Effect of Peroxide Loading on Properties of Natural Rubber and Low-density Polyethylene Composites

Abstract

Natural rubber (NR)/low density polyethylene (LDPE) composites are utilised to manufacture rubber-based articles. Properties of these composites become inferior if they are used alone due to the incompatibility of the base polymers. Peroxides help to cross-link both NR and LDPE, and the addition of peroxide to the composite at its optimum loading may enhance properties by developing a stable phase morphology. Therefore, the present work investigates the effect of dicumyl peroxide (DCP) loading on physicomechanical properties of calcium carbonate (CaCO 3 )-filled NR/LDPE (70/30) composites. The composite preparation was based on varying the DCP loading from 0 to 0.9 parts per hundred parts of polymer (phpp) at 0.1 phpp intervals. The composite at DCP loading of 0.3 phpp indicated the highest physicomechanical properties, gel content, the hardness of gel, and degree of crystallinity and the lowest degree of swelling. Properties of the composites with DCP were better than those of the control (without DCP). Water absorption decreased with the addition of DCP up to 0.3 phpp and increased after that with the rise in DCP loading. Scanning electron microscopic (SEM) image of the composite at DCP loading of 0.3 phpp revealed a smooth fracture surface. Therefore, 0.3 phpp was identified as the optimum DCP loading for the NR/LDPE (70/30) composite.

Synthesis of copper-grafted graphite and its effect on properties of natural rubber composites

“…This implies that the unreacted sulphur has undergone post vulcanisation when sulphur vulcanising system alone is present. 39 However, the composite prepared with 10 phr loading of Cu-g-graphite shows the lowest retention of tear strength since copper accelerates the oxidation of NR matrix. 40 Hence, NR composites prepared with higher loadings of Cu-g-graphite would form a weak interface between the NR and graphite phases and it is evident from the SEM image shown in Figure 8.…”

Effect of Ground Tire Rubber on Mechanical Properties of Low Density Polyethylene

“…<0.01), clear in thin-film form, electrical insulating properties are excellent, good processability, and low cost. The disadvantages of LDPE are; low tensile strength, low stiffness, poor ultraviolet resistance, high flammable and vulnerability to stress cracking [11,[14][15][16].…”

“…So the flexural strength was calculated at 25 % deformation. The blended material shows good flexibility by reducing the stiffness of the overall composition [11,15,16,19,22].…”

“…According to the tensile results, it was observed that the rubber content is showing its effect by increasing elongations as we have more elastic properties in rubber and decreasing the modulus and tensile strength of the blend. The blend has good energy absorption capabilities with mechanical balance properties compared to pure rubber material [9,11,16,17].…”

Synthesis of polyethylene glycol-grafted graphite and effect of its loading on properties of natural rubber composites

“…Hence, 10 phr PEG-g-Graphite loaded composite shows the highest toughness, which is indicated by the highest area under the stress-strain curve. In addition, the area under this curve represents the elastic potential energy of a polymeric material (Sampath et al, 2019a;2019b). Hence, the composite prepared with 10 phr loading of PEG-g-Graphite shows a higher elastic potential energy per unit volume (4873.5 × 10 6 Jm -3 ) than the other composites.…”