Journal of Applied Polymer Science, Vol.82, No.13, 3304-3312, 2001
Recycling of EPDM waste. II. Replacement of virgin rubber by ground EPDM vulcanizate in EPDM/PP thermoplastic elastomeric composition
Virgin ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) rubber in a thermoplastic elastomeric blend of polypropylene (PP) and EPDM rubber was substituted by ground EPDM vulcanizate of known composition, after which the mechanical properties of the raw EPDM/waste EPDM/PP blends were determined. The ratio of the rubber content in the waste EPDM (r-W-EPDM) to the raw EPDM (R-EPDM) in the blends was varied from 0 : 100 to 45 : 55. Attempts to replace higher amounts (> 45%) of R-EPDM by W-EPDM failed because of processing difficulty. Although a drop in mechanical properties of the blends was observed at lower loadings of W-EPDM, the properties showed improvement at intermediate W-EPDM loadings. The R-EPDM/W-EPDM/PP blends were found to be reprocessable.