Preparation and characterization of hydrophilic and water-swellable elastomeric nanocomposites
Date
2022
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Polymer Engineering and Science
Abstract
Highly polar and hydrophilic polymers; ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA),
epichlorohydrin rubber (GECO), and polyethylene oxide (PEO) reinforced
with fillers (carbon black (CB) and/or Silica) were used to prepare water swellable rubber nanocomposites. The study showed that although the high
content of the GECO delayed vulcanization of the corresponding compounds,
the sample filled with desired ratio of GECO/PEO/EVA or GPE, cross-linked
with peroxide exhibited the highest swelling performance of ⁓150%. The sam ples exhibited good re-usability performance in the re-swollen test, after drying. At prolonged water swelling, the tensile strength dropped drastically for
compounds with high content of the GPE, due to weak filler-matrix interactions. On the other hand, the incorporated GPE also increased the rebound
resilience (%) property which is a key requirement in green tire fabrication.
For example; peroxide cured sample coded SR3 (GPE-15 phr CB) obtained
⁓30% resilience in non-swollen state and ⁓53.5% after 1440 min of water-swell ing, which represents a dramatic development of over ⁓78% in rebound resilience. Thus, a proper balance between the GPE content, curing agent and the
reinforcements may guarantee high water-swelling performance and mechanical properties integrity for multifunctional applications such as wound healing,
structural works, water collection from oil spillages, and for the development
of water-based sensors.
Description
Research Article
Keywords
composites, elastomers, mechanical strength and resilient, rubber