Physical Properties of Slide-Ring Material Reinforced Ethylene Propylene Diene Rubber Composites

• Published in: Polymers Vol. 14; no. 10; p. 2121
• Main Authors: Kim, Gyuri, Sahu, Pranabesh, Oh, Jeong Seok
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 23.05.2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Composite materials; compression set; Compressive strength; Damping; Elastomers; Ethylene; Mechanical properties; Physical properties; Polymers; Pressure molding; Propylene; Room temperature; Rubber; rubber composites; slide-ring material; Softness; Thermal stability; United States > US; rubber composites; slide-ring material; compression set; mechanical properties
• ISSN: 2073-4360; 2073-4360
• DOI: 10.3390/polym14102121

High-damping rubber composites were prepared by mixing ethylene propylene diene monomer rubber (EPDM) with slide-ring (SR) materials using a two-roll mill, followed by a compression molding technique. SR material has a novel supramolecular structure with unique softness and slidable crosslink junctions. The mechanical strength, thermal stability, compression set property, and damping performance of the composites were investigated. The use of the high damping SR phase dispersed in the EPDM matrix displayed improved physical properties and damping performance compared to those of virgin rubber. As SR content increases in the composites, the damping factor of SR/EPDM blends becomes higher at room temperature. In addition to this, the SR composites showed excellent improvements in the compression set properties. The composites showed a compression set improvement of 35-38% compared to virgin EPDM. These improvements are due to the "pulley effect" of slide-ring materials. Therefore, these materials present a robust platform for making novel elastomer composites for high-performance damping and sealing applications.