POLYMER BLEND - A NOVEL METHOD FOR THE PREPARATION OF A NATURAL-RUBBER CARBOXYLATED NITRILE RUBBER BLEND

Bis(diisopropyl)thiophosphoryl disulfide (DIPDIS) can be successfully used to form a blend comprising polar carboxylated nitrile rubber (XNB R) and nonpolar NR through a chemical link between the two. It is reve aled from the study that the physical properties of the vulcanizates o btained from the NR-XNBR blend could be significantly improved by the judicious selection of the NR:XNBR ratio. These properties can further be improved by two-stage vulcanization as described in the procedure. The SEM study reveals that it is possible to form a coherent blend of NR and XNBR in the presence of DIPDIS. (C) 1994 John Wiley & Sons, In c.