New Ultra-High Mooney Branched EPDM:Easy to Process High Filler Loading Compounds

摘要

Designing EPDM compounds with balanced properties and processability for various applications is of key interest and poses many fundamental challenges to rubber chemists.An ultra-high Mooney Viscosity EPDM combined with tailored level of long chain branching(LCB)allows favorable EPDM compound engineering properties such as improved shear thinning,higher collapse resistance and increased melt elasticity along with a balance of mechanical properties enabling more formulating options. Dow's new advances in catalyst and polymerization process technology expands the molecular structure design capability to produce EPDMs with higher molecular weight and higher,tailored LCB structure.This paper introduces a new ultra-high Mooney viscosity EPDM with tailored LCB levels to not only improve the processability of the EPDM,but also to improve the EPDM compound physical properties to meet the industry need for higher filler and oil loading.The polymer structure,compound formulation,compound rheology,vulcanization characteristics,and cured compound mechanical property improvements of the new experimental EPDM grade are discussed.