| |
|
|
|
Abstract
Factors Affecting the Adhesion Between Unvulcanised Elastomers
The self- and mutual-adhesion of various elastomers were investigated
as a function of contact time and temperature by means of peel tests. Peel
energies were measured for a peel angle of 90° at ambient temperature (ca. 23°C) at a
constant rate. The self-adhesion of unfilled polyisoprene elastomers, both
natural and synthetic, with molecular weights less than 5X105 was
found to attain its full-strength after a contact time of less than 2 min (the
shortest investigated). For synthetic polyisoprenes (IR) of molecular weight
7X105 and above, the self-adhesion was observed to increase until
contact times of 100 h or more were reached. For the IR elastomers studied, the
contact time needed for the adhesion to reach the plateau level did not appear
to correlate well with predictions based on interdiffusion of the long-chain
molecules as the rate-determining process. Compared with the polyisoprenes, the
self-adhesion of the unfilled styrene-butadiene polymer (SBR) studied, despite
its having a much lower molecular weight, developed more slowly, behaviour
consistent with the influence of SBR’s higher glass transition temperature on
its flow and diffusion behaviour. The mutual adhesion of natural rubber (NR)
with epoxidised natural rubber (ENR) or to SBR, and the mutual adhesion of IR
with ENR improved noticeably with time; the locus of failure moved from the
interface into the weaker adherend provided sufficient contact time was
permitted. As the polymer pairs are all immiscible, having significantly
different solubility parameters, and the possibility of significant
interactions between polar groups is absent, the development of such strong
levels of mutual adhesion is surprising. The present results unexpectedly
suggest a substantial difference between the time dependence of the adhesion of
IR or NR to ENR, with the synthetic polyisoprene showing a stronger adhesion
particularly at shorter contact times; the difference is apparent despite the
comparision being made for IR and NR of similar molecular weight. The presence
of carbon black filler had little effect on the self-adhesion of SBR. The
mutual-adhesion between SBR and BNR was increased by the addition of black,
though it developed to its plateau level more slowly. The results reported here
suggest, somewhat surprisingly, that the influence of carbon black on the
self-adhesion of NR, unlike that of SBR, appears to depend upon the type of
black.

|