Journal of Applied Polymer Science, Vol.67, No.2, 221-229, 1998
Miscibility between natural rubber and tackifiers. II. Phase diagrams of the blends of natural rubber and petroleum resins
Natural rubber (NR) was blended in various ratios with 12 kinds of tackifiers that were prepared from petroleum. The blends were heated to various temperatures (20-120℃) to investigate their miscibility. The blends were visually observed for transparency or opacity at each temperature and further observed under an optical microscope for any existence of phase-separated structure. Miscibility of the blends is illustrated as phase diagrams in this article. NR/aliphatic resin systems and NR/aliphatic-aromatic copolymer systems showed phase diagrams of the lower critical solution temperature type, wherein the blends turned faintly cloudy over the binodal curves. The NR/hydrogenated petroleum resin system also showed a phase diagram of the lower critical solution temperature type. The miscible range of a blend system tends to become smaller as the molecular weight of a tackifier increases. Resins prepared by polymerization of pure aromatic monomers were completely immiscible with NR.