Natural rubber/epoxidised natural rubber-25 blends: morphology, transport phenomena and mechanical properties

Blends of natural rubber (NR)/epoxidised natural rubber (ENR) were prepared and their morphology, transport behaviour and mechanical properties have been studied. Ebonite method was used to study the blend morphology. Transport behaviour of pentane, hexane, heptane and octane was studied in the temperature range 27–60 °C. Different transport parameters such as rate constant, diffusion and permeation coefficients, and sorption coefficient have been calculated. Temperature dependence of diffusion has been used to estimate the activation parameters. The improved performance of NR/ENR blends has been established from the mechanical studies of unswollen, swollen and deswollen samples.