Peroxide cure is an important and widely used cure system for rubber. Several properties obtained via peroxide vulcanization are superior and not achievable with sulfur vulcanization, e.g.: aging resistance, no reversion and low compression set. However, other properties such as tensile strength and dynamic properties, are inferior to those of sulfur vulcanizates. The use of co-agents in peroxide cure leads to a certain extent to improvement in mechanical properties such as tensile strength. Nevertheless the properties are still inferior with respect to mechanical/dynamical properties of sulfur-cured articles. If these properties can be improved, the range of applications of peroxide cure in the rubber industry can be significantly broadened.Scorch is a common problem in peroxide cure, especially for injection molding and extrusion applications. Several additives can help to improve scorch safety, however, they always result in a lower peroxide efficiency, thus inferior vulcanizate properties.In the present study a new concept of co-agents for peroxide vulcanization is introduced. This new concept consists of the use of a combination of a bismaleimide type co-agent, like N,N'-m-phenylenedimaleimide (BMI-MP), and a sulfur containing compound, like dipentamethylenethiuram tetrasulfide (DPTT). This combination provides scorch safety and at the same time improves the mechanical properties of the vulcanizates. Within the bismaleimide type co-agents N,N'-p-phenylenedimaleimide (BMI-PP) provides better mechanical properties than BMI-MP. The concentration of coagent and sulfur containing compound have a big influence on the scorch time and on the mechanical properties. Optimal properties are reached with 4 phr of co-agent and 0.7 to 0.96 phr of sulfur containing compound.
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