Abstract
Blends of natural rubber and styrene/butadiene rubber have been cured using a new binary accelerator system containing 1-phenyl-2,4-dithobiuret (DTB). This new accelerator was synthesised and used in combination with sulphenamides such as dicyclohexyl benzothiazyl sulphenamide, tertiary butyl benzothiazole sulphenamide and morpholinothio benzothiazole sulphenamide. A significant reduction in cure time was observed with the addition of DTB. Network characterisation of the vulcanisates was carried out by the estimation of cross-link density and relative proportions of crosslinks. The mechanical properties of the vulcanisates improved upon addition of DTB. Dynamic mechanical analysis was carried out to study the effect of the new accelerator on entanglement density and modulus. Based on the processing behaviour, mechanical properties and chemical characterisation it was found that DTB could be effectively used as a secondary accelerator in the curing of NR-SBR blends.
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