Characterization of elastomer blend and compatibility

Binary blends of acrylonitrile-co-butadiene rubber and ethylene propylene d iene monomer rubber are immiscible. However, they can be made compatible by addition of a third elastomer viz., chlorinated polyethylene or chlorosulp honated polyethylene in small concentrations. Various sophisticated analyti cal techniques, e.g., ultrasonic velocity measurements in solutions, infrar ed spectroscopy of solution cast films, thermo-mechanical analysis, process ing characteristics through rubber process analyzer (RPA-2000), determinati on of the vulcanizate properties, and also phase morphology studies by atom ic force microscopy have been made to elucidate compatibility and its effec t on end-use properties of the evolved blends. (C) 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.