Additive free thermoplastic vulcanizates based on natural rubber

Electron induced reactive processing (EIReP) is an eco-friendly and sustainable reactive processing method based on the use of high energy electrons. It was used to cross-link the elastomeric domain phase during melt mixing in order to prepare natural rubber (NR) and polypropylene (PP) based thermoplastic vulcanizates (TPVs). The electron treatment with various values of absorbed dose showed a prominent effect on mechanical, rheological, and morphological characteristics of the PP/NR TPVs. SEM and TEM studies confirmed that these TPVs can exists across the co-continuous or discrete phase morphology. The maximum set of mechanical properties (tensile strength of 15 MPa and elongation at break of more than 500%) were obtained at an absorbed dose of 100 kGy for a 50/50 blend ratio of NR and PP without addition of any compatibilizer or chemicals. At higher values of absorbed dose the degradation of polypropylene showed a negative impact on the properties of the TPVs. Depending on the morphology and the evaluation of mechanical properties a structure–property co-relationship is drawn on the basis of common phenomenological understanding of the TPVs.