PHASE SELECTIVE LOCALIZATION OF FILLER IN TERNARY RUBBER BLENDS

Abstract The present work introduces a new concept based on the analysis of the rubber–filler gel for the determination of the phase selective filler localization in ternary rubber blends. Natural rubber (NR)/styrene–butadiene rubber (SBR)/ethylene–propylene rubber (EPDM) blends filled with silica were the focus of the experimental investigations. Because of the higher wetting rate of the NR component to silica, in the first stage of the preparation of SBR/NR/EPDM blends, more silica is found in the NR phase than in the SBR and EPDM phase. In the subsequent stage, silica is transferred from the NR phase to the SBR phase until the loosely bound NR-layer at the silica surface is fully replaced by SBR molecules. An extremely low amount of silica was found in the EPDM phase because of the poor EPDM–silica interaction. After a long mixing time, a large amount of silica whose surface was not yet wetted by any rubber phase could be found in the composites that can lead to fatal effects on the mechanical performance of the composites.