Abstract

Green biodegradable thermoplastic natural rubber based on epoxidized natural rubber (ENR) and poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) blends was prepared via simple blend (SB) or via dynamic vulcanization (DV). Influence of blend proportions of ENR and PBS on morphological, dynamic, mechanical, dynamic mechanical, thermal properties, and water absorption together with biodegradability were investigated. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) were also used to assess phase morphologies in the ENR/PBS blends. It was found that the ENR/PBS simple blend had co-continuous phase structure, while the dynamically cured ENR/PBS blend (DV) has spherical micron-sized crosslinked ENR particles dispersed in the PBS matrix. In addition, the particle size of vulcanized ENR domains of DV and the grain size of ENR and PBS phases in the simple blend decreased with increasing PBS content up to 50 wt%. This might be caused by interfacial adhesion effects between the phases. However, increasing the ENR fraction to 70 wt% caused increasing of elasticity in terms of shear viscosity, shear modulus, storage modulus, together with elongation at break, and tension set. It was also found that mechanical and thermal properties as well as biodegradability of dynamically cured ENR/PBS blends were better than for the simple blend counterparts, That is, the lowest biodegradability, as indicated by the least weight loss, is seen for the 50/50 ENR-25/PBS simple blend (about 1.2%) and dynamic vulcanizate (about 0.6%).

中文翻译：

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基于环氧天然橡胶和聚丁二酸丁二醇酯共混物的绿色可生物降解热塑性天然橡胶：共混比例的影响

摘要

通过简单的共混物（SB）或通过动态硫化（DV）制备了基于环氧化天然橡胶（ENR）和聚丁二酸丁二酯（PBS）的绿色可生物降解的热塑性天然橡胶。研究了ENR和PBS的混合比例对形态，动态，机械，动态机械，热性能，吸水率以及生物降解性的影响。扫描电子显微镜（SEM）和原子力显微镜（AFM）也用于评估ENR / PBS共混物中的相态。发现ENR / PBS简单共混物具有共连续相结构，而动态固化的ENR / PBS共混物（DV）具有分散在PBS基质中的球形微米尺寸的交联ENR颗粒。此外，DV的硫化ENR结构域的粒径以及简单共混物中ENR和PBS相的晶粒尺寸随着PBS含量增加至50 wt％而降低。这可能是由于各相之间的界面粘附作用引起的。然而，将ENR分数增加至70wt％导致弹性增加，其在剪切粘度，剪切模量，储能模量，断裂伸长率和拉伸定形方面。还发现动态固化的ENR / PBS共混物的机械和热性能以及生物降解性优于简单的共混物，也就是说，对于50 / 50个ENR-25 / PBS简单混合物（约1.2％）和动态硫化橡胶（约0.6％）。这可能是由于各相之间的界面粘附作用引起的。然而，将ENR分数增加至70wt％导致弹性增加，其在剪切粘度，剪切模量，储能模量，断裂伸长率和拉伸定形方面。还发现动态固化的ENR / PBS共混物的机械和热性能以及生物降解性优于简单的共混物，也就是说，对于50 / 50个ENR-25 / PBS简单混合物（约1.2％）和动态硫化橡胶（约0.6％）。这可能是由于各相之间的界面粘附作用引起的。然而，将ENR分数增加至70wt％导致弹性增加，其在剪切粘度，剪切模量，储能模量，断裂伸长率和拉伸定形方面。还发现动态固化的ENR / PBS共混物的机械和热性能以及生物降解性优于简单的共混物，也就是说，对于50 / 50个ENR-25 / PBS简单混合物（约1.2％）和动态硫化橡胶（约0.6％）。