Thermomechanical Properties and Shape Memory Effect of Chemically Crosslinked EPDM (Nordel(R) IP)

Abstract

Thermomechanical and shape memory properties of dicumyl peroxide(DCP) cured semicrystalline EPDM(Nordel(R) IP) were investigated. From gel content analysis, it can be seen that Nordel can be crosslinked by small amount of DCP and the degree of crosslinking increased with the increase of DCP content. DSC analysis revealed that the melting temperature and degree of crystallinity of the crosslinked rubber decreased with the increase of DCP. Tensile test showed that tensile modulus increased and elongation at break of the rubber decreased with an increase in the degree of crosslinking. The chemically crosslinked semi-crystalline EPDM exhibited excellent shape memory behavior, i.e. the sample was easily deformed to have an arbitrary secondary shape above its melting temperature and was fixed well in its deformed state when it is cooled, and then the fixed shape was recovered to its original shape very fast upon heating above its melting temperature.