Preparation of Natural Rubber Based Thermoplastic Vulcanizates by Electron Induced Reactive Processing

摘要

In the present study, the rubber phase of the natural rubber (NR)/polypropyle-ne (PP) blend were dynamically vulcanized during Electron Induced Reactive Processing (EIReP). A dramatic change in mechanical properties was observed after absorption of dose in the range from 100 to 350 kGy. In addition, we investigated the influence of polyfunctio-nal monomers and molecular weight of the thermoplastic component on the morphology and mechanical properties. The prepared thermoplastic vulcanizates showed a continuous thermoplastic matrix containing well dispersed vulcanized rubber domains. Our results suggest that EIReP is a novel method which can offer additional features over conventional vulcanizing agents without compromising the end user properties.