The Effect of Trans-Polyoctenamer on Thermoplastic Dynamic Vulcanizates from Devulcanized Ground Tire Rubber and Polypropylene

High Resolution Image Download MS PowerPoint Slide In this study, we investigated the effect of trans-polyoctenamer (TOR) on the properties of thermoplastic dynamic vulcanizates (TDVs) derived from devulcanized ground tire rubber (dGTR) and polypropylene (PP). Small amounts of TOR helped improve the interface between incompatible PP and dGTR through co-cross-linking of TOR and the rubber phase at the interphase and slightly increased the crystallinity of the thermoplastic phase. The improved interface manifested in the higher elongation-at-break and perforation energy and improved compression set. We also studied the damage behavior of the TDVs and found that the addition of TOR led to a more stable, gradual failure process, as evidenced by significantly flatter cumulative acoustic emission event curves.