Journal
ACS APPLIED POLYMER MATERIALS
Volume -, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
AMER CHEMICAL SOC
DOI: 10.1021/acsapm.2c00416
Keywords
recyclable rubber; Diels-Alder cross-linked polymer; vitrimer; covalent adaptable network; thermoreversible cross-linking; thermally conductive rubber
Funding
- European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union [639495-INTHERM-ERC-2014-STG]
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In this study, a covalent adaptable network based on the thermoreversible cross-linking of an ethylene-propylene rubber through Diels-Alder reaction was prepared through melt blending. The research shows that this rubber has the potential to compete with conventionally cross-linked elastomers and can be recycled through a simple melt processing step. Furthermore, the addition of reduced graphene oxide to the thermoreversible rubber significantly improves its stiffness and thermal conductivity.
A covalent adaptable network based on the thermoreversible cross-linking of an ethylene-propylene rubber through Diels-Alder (DA) reaction was prepared for the first time through melt blending as an environmental-friendly alternative to traditional synthesis in organic solvents. Functionalization of the rubber with furan groups was performed in a melt blender and subsequently mixed with different amounts of bismaleimide in a microextruder. Cross-linking was confirmed by FT-IR spectroscopy and insolubility at room temperature, while its thermoreversible character was confirmed by a solubility test at 110 degrees C and by remolding via hot-pressing. Mechanical and thermomechanical properties of the obtained rubbers showed potential to compete with conventionally cross-linked elastomers, with stiffness in the range 1-1.7 MPa and strain at break in the range 200-500%, while allowing recycling via a simple melt processing step. Nanocomposites based on the thermoreversible rubber were prepared with reduced graphene oxide (rGO), showing significantly increasing stiffness up to ca. 8 MPa, similar to 2-fold increased strength, and thermal conductivity up to similar to 0.5 W/(m K). Results in this paper may open for industrially viable and sustainable applications of thermoreversible elastomers.
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