Styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) is widely used in tire treads due to its excellent abrasion resistance, braking performance, and reasonable cost. Depending on the polymerization method, SBR is classified into solution-polymerized SBR (SSBR) and emulsion-polymerized SBR (ESBR). ESBR is less expensive and environmentally friendlier than SSBR because it uses water as a solvent. A higher molecular weight is also easier to obtain in ESBR, which has advantages in mechanical properties and tire performance. In ESBR polymerization, a surfactant is added to create an emulsion system with a hydrophobic monomer in the water phase. However, some amount of surfactant remains in the ESBR during coagulation, making the polymer chains in micelles clump together. As a result, it is well-known that residual surfactant adversely affects the physical properties of silica-filled ESBR compounds. However, researches about the effect of residual surfactant on the physical properties of ESBR are lacking. Therefore, in this study we compared the effects of remaining surfactant in ESBR on the mechanical properties of silica-filled and carbon black-filled compounds. The crosslinking density and filler-rubber interaction are also analyzed by using the Flory-Rehner theory and Kraus equation. In addition, the effects of surfactant on the mechanical properties and crosslinking density are compared with the effects of TDAE oil (a conventional processing aid).

10, 20, 30, and 40% of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) were added to nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR) to modify the latter. The NBR/PVC composites containing pure NBR were synthesized to investigate properties, such as crosslinking density, hardness, tensile strength, abrasion resistance, heat resistance, solvent resistance, and filler dispersion. The experimental result revealed a decrease in crosslinking density and heat resistance with increase in the PVC content. In contrast, addition of PVC to NBR resulted in enhancement of hardness, tensile strength, solvent resistance, and filler dispersion.

The present study examines the transformation of dynamic DSC data into the equivalent isothermal data for the formation kinetics of a polyurethane elastomer. The reaction of 2'-dichloro-4,4'-methylenedianiline (MOCA) with a PTMG/ TDI-based isocyanate prepolymer was evaluated. DSC measurement was performed in the dynamic scanning mode with several different heating rates to obtain the reaction thermograms. Then, the data was transformed into the isothermal data through a procedure based on Ozawa analysis. The main feature of this procedure was the transformation of (α-T)β curves from dynamic DSC into (α-t)T curves using the isoconversional (t-T)α diagram. Validity was discussed for the relationship between the dynamic DSC data and the transformed isothermal results.

Styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR), reinforced with different contents of silica (with or without modification using silane coupling agents), was prepared by a modified sol-gel method involving hydrolyzation of tetraethoxysilane over an acid catalyst. The structures of the as-prepared samples were characterized using various techniques, such as scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis. The mechanical properties of the as-prepared samples were discussed in detail. The results revealed an increasing of the storage modulus (G') with increase in the silica content without modification. In contrast, G' decreased after modification using silane coupling agents, indicating a reduction in the silica-silica interaction and improved dispersion of silica in the SBR matrix. Both tensile stress and hardness increased with increase in the silica content (with modification) in the SBR matrix, albeit with low values compared to the samples with un-modified silica, except for the case of silica modified using (3-glycidyloxypropyl) trimethoxysilane (GPTS). The latter observation can be attributed to the special structure of GPTS and the effort of oxygen atom lone-pair.

Magneto-rheological elastomers (MREs) are smart materials in which the inherent stiffness and damping properties can be changed by the influence of an external magnetic field. The magneto-rheological (MR) effect depends on the orientation characteristics of the dispersed magneto-responsible particles (MRPs) in the matrix. In this study, natural rubber (NR) and ethylene propylene diene rubber (EPDM) were blended and used as a matrix of an MRE. EPDM was pre-cured before blending with NR. The Mooney viscosity, curing characteristics, and mechanical properties were analyzed with various pre-curing conditions of EPDM and the NR/EPDM blend. The results show that excellent mechanical properties of the NR/EPDM blend-based MRE were obtained when the pre-curing time of EPDM was 60 min. The aging property of the NR-based MRE was improved by the introduction of pre-cured EPDM. Also, the anisotropic MRE showed a higher MR effect than that of the isotropic MRE.

ZnS:Mn-glycine (ZnS:Mn-Gly) nanocomposites were synthesized by capping ZnS:Mn nanocomposites with glycine. Zinc sulfate heptahydrate (ZnSO₄·7H₂O), glycine (C₂H₅NO₂), manganese sulfate monohydrate (MnSO₄·H₂O), and sodium sulfide (Na₂S) were used as the source reagents. ZnS:Mn-Gly-C₆₀ nanocomposites were obtained by heating the ZnS:Mn-Gly nanocomposites and fullerene (C₆₀) at a 2:1 mass ratio in an electric furnace at 700 °C for 2 h. X-ray diffraction (XRD) was used to characterize the crystal structure of the synthesized nanocomposites. The photocatalytic activity of the ZnS:Mn-Gly-C₆₀ nanocomposites was evaluated, via the degradation of brilliant green (BG) dye under 254 nm irradiation, with a UV-vis spectrophotometer.

Chloro isobutylene isoprene rubber (CIIR) and ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) compounded with other formulation chemicals, depending on the polymer blend, were prepared by mechanical mixing. After manufacturing the rubber vulcanizate by compression molding with a hot press, the mechanical and thermal properties including thermal conductivity, rebound resilience of the CIIR/EPDM blends were measured. As the EPDM rubber content increased, hardness and tension set showed a tendency to increase. Pure CIIR exhibited the lowest tensile strength; however, tensile strength increased with loading of EPDM rubber. On the other hand, in CIIR rubber, which is usually a low-rebound elastomer owing to a high damping effect, rebound resilience exhibited an increasing trend as the content of EPDM rubber increased. As the EPDM rubber content increased, thermal stability was improved due to reduction of decomposition rate in the rubber region of the blend vulcanizate.

The effect of the NCO index and catalyst type on the thermal stability of poly(urethane-isocyanurate) (PUIR) foams was investigated to identify a method for enhancing the flame resistance of PUIR. PUIR foams were prepared using 4,4-diphenylmethane diisocyanate (MDI) and [(diethylene glycol)adipate]diol, which were synthesized by esterification of adipic acid and diethylene glycol. Dabco K-15, Dabco TMR-30, and Toyocat RX-5 were used as the catalysts for trimerization and gelation. The amount of urea and isocyanurate groups in PUIR was semi-quantitatively determined by normalizing their absorbance with the phenyl absorbance measured by FT-IR. The normalization data showed that Dabco TMR-30 effectively generated isocyanurate groups in PUIR. As a result, Dabco TMR-30 effectively raised the decomposition temperature and increased the 800 K and 900 K residues of the PUIR foam synthesized with an NCO index of 200.