Reactive blending, reinforcement and curing of NR/BR/EPDM compounds for tire sidewall applications

The preparation of natural rubber (NR)/butadiene rubber (BR)/ethylene-propylene-diene rubber (EPDM) compounds for tyre sidewall applications by grafting of EPDM with N-cyclohexyl-2-benzothiazole sulphenamide via reactive blending prior to mixing with the other components and vulcanisation is described. The pretreated EPDM was characterised by FTIR, and the mechanical, physical and morphological properties of the blends were analysed by tensile and fatigue testing, ozone resistance, AFM and TEM. 44 refs