Thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) has attracted attention in many industrial fields owing to its simultaneous reprocessing ability and elasticity. Especially, TPEs for automobile application require high heat resistance. To accomplish this, melt-blend of polyamide12 (PA12) and ethylene-propylene-diene rubber (EPDM) was attempted. PA12 was adopted as a hard domain, providing high workable service temperature (Tm ~ 176 oC) to the TPE. EPDM was employed as a soft domain to afford elasticity. EPDM phase was selectively cross-linked by electron beam irradiation to improve the mechanical characteristics of the TPE. Maleated EPDM was also incorporated in the TPE as a reactive compatibilizer for further improvements of its properties. Mechanical, morphological and thermal characteristics of the TPEs were investigated and reported. Acknowledgements: This research was supported by the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (2012R1A1A2005345).

Characteristics of EPDM/PA12 melt-blend as a thermoplastic elastomer prepared through electron beam irradiation in the presence of maleated EPDM

248th National Meeting (2014)

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