Characterization of epoxidized natural rubber/ethylene vinyl acetate (ENR-50/EVA) blend: Effect of blend ratio

Epoxidized natural rubber/Ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer (ENR-50/EVA) blends with different ratios were prepared by using a Haake internal mixer. The effect of the blend ratio on the processing, tensile properties (such as tensile strength, elongation at break, Young's modulus and stress-strain behavior), morphology, dynamic mechanical properties, and thermal properties has been investigated. The tensile properties increase with the increase of EVA content, whereas the stabilization torque increases with the increase of ENR-50 content in the blend. In 40:60 and 50:50 blend of ENR-50/EVA, both the phases exist as continuous phases, producing a co-continuous morphology. At these blend ratio, the drastic change in properties were noted, indicating that the phase inversion occurs. The results on dynamic mechanical properties revealed that the blends are compatible. Blending of ENR-50 and EVA lead to the improvement in thermal stability and 50:50 blend ratios is the most stable blend. (c) 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.