Performance of treated distillate aromatic extract oil-coated petroleum-based sulfur on properties of natural rubber/acrylonitrile butadiene rubber blends

Abstract

Petroleum-based sulfur is one of the sulfur types used in rubber vulcanization. The use of such sulfur still faces poor dispersion in the rubber matrix especially in acrylonitrile butadiene rubber (NBR) and its blends. The use of oil as a dispersing agent acts as a key factor to improve the dispersibility of the sulfur. The effects of treated distillate aromatic extract (TDAE) oilcoated petroleum-based sulfur on the properties of natural rubber/acrylonitrile butadiene rubber (NR/NBR) blends were studied. In this work, sulfur was coated with 20 wt% TDAE-oil and then the effects on the properties of NR/ NBR blends were investigated. The results revealed that the TDAE oil-coated sulfur offered a significant improvement in sulfur dispersion without significant changes in cure behaviors which led to an enhancement of mechanical properties.

Keywords

• petroleum based sulfur
• TDAE oil
• NR/NBR blends
• mechanical property
• rubber vulcanization