Influence of static and dynamic crosslinking techniques on the transport properties of ethylene propylene diene monomer rubber/poly (ethylene-co-vinyl acetate) blends

The transport characteristics of dynamically and statically cross-linked Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer/poly (ethylene-co-vinyl acetate) (EPDM/EVA) blends have been examined in the temperature interval of 28–58 °C using benzene, toluene and xylene as probe molecules. The dynamically vulcanized blends exhibited enhanced properties on the sorption and diffusion features compared to the corresponding statically vulcanized blends. In both the cases, as the EVA content increased in the blends, the solvent uptake decreased. The experimental observations have been correlated with the phase morphology of the blends, using scanning electron micrographs. The crystallinity of the blends was studied using X-ray diffraction patterns. Among the three vulcanising systems, viz, sulphur, dicumyl peroxide (DCP), and a mixture consisting of sulphur and peroxide, employed for the matrix, the DCP cross linked system exhibited the lowest solvent uptake. The molar mass between cross links and the diffusion coefficients have been computed to complement the observed sorption behaviour.