Highly Efficient Methods for Sulfur Vulcanization Techniques, Results and Implications: Selection and Management of Rubber Curatives

Copyright © 2022 Dr Ali Ansarifar.

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ISBN: 978-1-9822-8504-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9822-8506-7 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-9822-8505-0 (e)

Balboa Press rev. date:  06/21/2022

CONTENTS

Preface

Chapter 1

1 Natural rubber and synthetic rubbers - A historical perspective

1.1 Crystallization in natural rubber

1.2 Structure, composition, properties, and applications of rubbers

1.2.1 Natural rubber (NR) and synthetic polyisoprene (IR)

1.2.2 Polybutadiene rubber (BR)

1.2.3 Styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR)

1.2.4 Ethylene-propylene-diene rubber (EPDM)

1.2.5 Acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber (NBR)

1.2.6 Butyl rubber (IIR)

1.2.7 Polychloroprene rubber (CR)

1.3 Sulfur vulcanization

1.3.1 Sulfur

1.3.2 Vulcanization with sulfur donors

1.3.3 Chemical mechanism of thiuram disulphide crosslinking

1.4 Chemical curatives in sulfur vulcanization

1.4.1 Accelerators

1.4.2 Activators

1.4.3 Retarders

1.5 Various sulfur vulcanization systems

1.6 References

Chapter 2

2 High efficiency sulfur vulcanization of rubber with fewer chemicals

2.1 Method 1 – Use of one accelerator, one activator, and sulfur to cure NR, BR and EPDM rubbers

2.1.1 Introduction

2.1.2 Materials and Mixing

2.1.3 Testing of the rubber compounds

2.1.4 Measurement of the optimum amounts of TBBS and ZnO for curing NR

2.1.5 Measurement of the optimum amounts of TBBS and ZnO for curing BR

2.1.6 Measurement of the optimum amounts of TBBS and ZnO for curing EPDM

2.1.7 Summary

2.2 References

Chapter 3

3 High efficiency sulfur vulcanization of NR with a single powder

3.1 Method 2 – Use of a single powder to cure NR

3.1.1 Introduction

3.1.2 Preparation of two single powders and the NR compounds

3.1.3 Measurement of the optimum amount of TBBS in the powder for curing NR

3.1.4 Measurement of the optimum amount of the TBBS/ZnO powder for curing NR with sulfur

3.1.5 Effect of an increasing amount of TMTD in the powder on the cure properties of NR

3.1.6 Effects of an increasing loading of the TMTD/ZnO powder on the cure properties of NR

3.1.7 Effect of an increasing loading of the TMTD/ZnO powder on the cure properties of NR with additional sulfur

3.1.8 Summary

3.2 References

Chapter 4

4 High efficiency sulfur vulcanization of BR and EPDM rubbers with a single powder

4.1 Method 2 – Use of a single powder to cure BR and EPDM

4.1.1 Effect of an increasing loading of the TBBS/ZnO powder on the cure properties of BR with sulfur

4.1.2 Effect of an increasing loading of the TBBS/ZnO powder on the cure properties of EPDM with 1 phr sulfur

4.1.3 Effect of an increasing loading of the TBBS/ZnO powder on the cure properties of EPDM with different amounts of sulfur

4.1.4 Summary

4.2 References

Chapter 5

5 The health, safety, cost, and environmental benefits of using the new methods for measuring the chemical curatives for rubber vulcanization

5.1 Comparing the efficiency of the two powders in the sulfur vulcanization of NR

5.2 Cost, health, safety and environmental benefits

5.3 Compound integrity and structural homogeneity of rubber compounds

5.4 A software program for selecting cure systems for NR

5.4.1 The database - Effects of an increasing loading of TBBS/ZnO powder on the crosslink density changes in the rubber with different amounts of sulfur

5.4.2 Development of a software program for cure systems for NR

5.4.3 Use of the software program to select cure systems for the NR

5.4.4 Summary

5.5 References

Chapter 6

6.1 Summary

6.1.1. Method 1

6.1.2. Method 2

6.2 A future strategy for using chemical curatives efficiently in vulcanization

6.3 Outcome

7 Appendix

7.1 List of References

7.2 List of Abbreviations

7.3 List of Figures and Scheme

7.4 List of Tables

9 Epilogue

10 Afterword

11 Autobiography

12 Acknowledgments

About the book

The rubber industry is a success story in the manufacturing

endeavours of mankind. It started with a tree that was grown

in tropical South America, and then the rubber production

spread to other tropical countries in different parts of the

world. The rapid expansion of the rubber industry and the

range of products that it produces are truly astonishing.

Rubber is a fascinating material to study because of its

unusual properties. It is even more amazing that so many

products for so many applications are made using rubber.

The success of the rubber industry is due to the availability

of a range of chemicals to cure or vulcanize rubber for

industrial applications. These chemicals are toxic, and as a

result, there are laws and regulations which limit their use.

This poses a major challenge to the manufacturers and

users of rubber chemicals, and urgent steps must be taken

to address this issue. This can only be achieved when the

excessive use of chemical curatives in rubber vulcanization

is reduced. In this book, two new methods are described and

supported by extensive experimental results that address

this problem and offer a way forward. A software program

was developed to help with the selection and management

of some selected chemicals for sulfur vulcanization. It is

time to make rubber compounds as green as the rubber

tree. Green rubber products are now within reach.

PREFACE

Sulfur vulcanization, also called curing or crosslinking, is a major stage in the processing of raw rubber into a practical industrial product. To aid the reaction of sulfur with rubber at high temperatures, some chemicals are added to control the onset, rate, and extent of the reaction of sulfur with the rubber. These chemicals are called accelerators and activators. The use of accelerators and activators in sulfur vulcanization has been so successful that in most rubber formulations, there are now two accelerators (primary and secondary) and two activators (primary and secondary). It is true that sulfur vulcanization is a more efficient process today than it was at the time of Charles Goodyear in 1844, but serious health and safety issues related to the excessive use of these chemicals in rubber have emerged. These chemicals are damaging to aquatic life and the environment, and so, their use is restricted by various laws for the environment, health, and safety. For example, by the European Directives 2004/73/EC and 67/548/EEC. Furthermore, the exact amounts of the chemicals required for curing rubber are not measured, and there is no reason why so many chemicals are used in industrial rubber compounds today.

I am a materials scientist and have worked with rubber for the last 32 years of my professional life. I have published around 140 technical research papers in peer-reviewed international scientific journals and in technical magazines for the polymer and tire industries. I have contributed chapters to scientific books and carried out consultancy work for some companies and manufacturers in the UK. The most varied aspects of my experience were with the suppliers and users of rubber chemicals. I searched some rubber formulary literature for industrial rubber products and learned about the toxic properties of the chemicals used in the compounding of rubber published by the European Chemicals Policy, Registration, Evaluation, Authorization, and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH). I concluded that the current methods for using chemicals in sulfur vulcanization are fundamentally flawed. So, I initiated a new study and supervised research projects to measure the chemical curatives for sulfur vulcanization more accurately.

This book is a collection of extensive experimental work and measurements that were carried out in several postgraduate and doctoral projects supervised by the author and two colleagues, Dr. George W. Weaver and Professor K. G. Upul Wijayantha, in the Department of Chemistry at Loughborough University, U.K. The aim is to promote a better way of using the chemical curatives in sulfur vulcanization and simplify the compounding of rubber with the curatives.

Two highly efficient methods for the sulfur vulcanization of unsaturated hydrocarbon rubbers have been developed. One method measures the exact amount of a sulfenamide accelerator to cause a reaction between sulfur and rubber to form chemical crosslinks and then adds zinc oxide to improve the efficiency of the curing process. Another method of treating the surface of zinc oxide with a sulfenamide accelerator