Effect of dynamic vulcanization on properties of linear low density polyethylene/natural rubber filled with Calcium Carbonate

The effect of dynamic vulcanization with different loading of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) on linear low density polyethylene/natural rubber using N,N'-m-phenylene bismaleimide (HVA-2) vulcanized and dicumyl peroxide (DCP) vulcanized as a cross-linker were investigated. Optimum ratio of LLDPE/NR blends was chosen is 70/30 in this study. Calcium carbonate loading was varied at 0wt%, 5wt%, 10wt% and 20wt% as filler in LLDPE/NR blends. The study showed that the tensile properties of the un-vulcanized LLDPE/NR blends were deteriorated with increasing in CaCO3 content. The dynamic vulcanization approach by using the HVA-2 and DCP dynamic vulcanization agents was applied on the LLDPE/NR blends in order to compensate the deterioration properties caused by the incorporation of CaCO3. According to the results, the addition of HVA-2 and DCP showed the composites were better in water resistance and tensile properties as compared to the standardized counterpart. The morphological analysis by using the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) found out that the interfacial adhesion and dispersion of CaCO3 was improved in both vulcanization systems.