Investigating the effect of organoclay montmorillonite and rubber ratio composition on the enhancement compatibility and properties of carboxylated acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber/ethylene-propylene-diene monomer hybrid elastomer nanocomposites

In this work, a reinforcing organoclay montmorillonite (OMMT) (i.e., 0, 2.5, 5, 7.5 and 10 phr) and novel alloys were prepared, which significantly improved the thermal, mechanical and rheological properties of immiscible XNBR/EPDM alloys. Results revealed that optimum cure time (t(90)) and scorch time (t(5)), decrease with increasing OMMT (Cloisite 15A) content; while the cure time was prolonged with increasing EPDM content. The results of X-ray diffraction show an increase in the distance between the layers of the silicate plates in the continuous XNBR/EPDM rubber phase in all of the compositions compared with the nanoclay powder. This indicates the penetration of rubber chains among the silicate layers. This phenomenon was also confirmed by direct observation of the intercalated and exfoliated microstructure of the nanocomposite by a transmission electron microscopy (TEM).