Thermal, morphological, and physicomechanical properties of (chlorinated polyethylene rubber)/(chloroprene rubber) blends

The effect of the blend ratio on the thermal, morphological, and physicomechanical properties of (chlorinated polyethylene rubber)/(chloroprene rubber) (CPE/CR) blends was studied. Two distinct glass transition temperatures ( T _g ) of all blends were observed in differential scanning calorimetry curves, falling between the T _g of the two pure rubbers. Analysis of the blends by scanning electron microscopy showed both dispersed and continuous phase morphology that depended on the blend composition. Thermogravimetric analysis showed that all the compounds underwent two stages of thermal degradation. The Mooney viscosity and optimum cure times increased with the increase in CPE contents, whereas the scorch times decreased. The tensile strength and elongation at break decreased, whereas the 100% modulus, hardness, and compression set increased with the increase of CPE content; the tear strength had the lowest value for the 50/50 CPE/CR blend because of the poor miscibility. The results from thermal aging and oil resistance tests showed that pure CPE possessed better thermal aging property and oil resistance than those of pure CR. Thus, considerable improvement in oil resistance of the blend compounds was achieved with the increase of CPE content. J. VINYL ADDIT. TECHNOL., 21:18–23, 2015. © 2014 Society of Plastics Engineers