Physical Properties of Slide-Ring Material Reinforced Ethylene Propylene Diene Rubber Composites

High-damping rubber composites were prepared by mixing ethylene propylene diene monomer rubber (EPDM) with slide-ring (SR) materials using a two-roll mill, followed by a compression molding technique. SR material has a novel supramolecular structure with unique softness and slidable crosslink junctions. The mechanical strength, thermal stability, compression set property, and damping performance of the composites were investigated. The use of the high damping SR phase dispersed in the EPDM matrix displayed improved physical properties and damping performance compared to those of virgin rubber. As SR content increases in the composites, the damping factor of SR/EPDM blends becomes higher at room temperature. In addition to this, the SR composites showed excellent improvements in the compression set properties. The composites showed a compression set improvement of 35-38% compared to virgin EPDM. These improvements are due to the pulley effect of slide-ring materials. Therefore, these materials present a robust platform for making novel elastomer composites for high-performance damping and sealing applications.

Automated summary

In this study, high-damping rubber composites were prepared by mixing SR materials with EPDM and their mechanical properties, thermal stability, compression set properties, and damping performance were investigated. The results showed that the addition of the SR phase significantly improved the physical properties and damping performance of the composites, as well as improved the compression set properties.