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. 2024 Aug 4;16(15):2221.
doi: 10.3390/polym16152221.

Thermoplastic Vulcanizates with an Integration of High Wear-Resistant and Anti-Slip Properties Based on Styrene Ethylene Propylene Styrene Block Copolymer/Styrene Ethylene Butylene Styrene Block Copolymer/Solution-Polymerization Styrene-Butadiene Rubber

Zhicheng Li  1 , Jianbin Xiao  1
Affiliations

Thermoplastic Vulcanizates with an Integration of High Wear-Resistant and Anti-Slip Properties Based on Styrene Ethylene Propylene Styrene Block Copolymer/Styrene Ethylene Butylene Styrene Block Copolymer/Solution-Polymerization Styrene-Butadiene Rubber

Zhicheng Li et al. Polymers (Basel). .

Abstract

Distinguished from traditional vulcanized rubber, which is not reusable, thermoplastic elastomer (TPV) is a material that possesses both the excellent resilience of traditional vulcanized rubber and the recyclability of thermoplastic, and TPVs have been widely studied in both academia and industry because of their outstanding green properties. In this study, new thermoplastic elastomers based on solution polymerized styrene butadiene rubber (SSBR) and thermoplastic elastomers (SEPSs/SEBSs) were prepared by the first dynamic vulcanization process. The high slip resistance and abrasion resistance of SSBR are utilized to improve the poor slip resistance of SEPSs/SEBSs, which provides a direction for the recycling of shoe sole materials. In this paper, the effects of different ratios of the rubber/plastic phase (R/P) on the mechanical properties, rheological properties, micro-morphology, wear resistance, and anti-slip properties of SSBR/TPE TPVs are investigated. The results show that the SSBR/TPE TPVs have good mechanical properties. The tensile strength, tear strength, hardness, and resilience of the TPVs decrease slightly with an increasing R/P ratio. Still, TPVs have a tensile strength of 18.1 MPa when the ratio of R/P is 40/100, and this reaches the performance of the vulcanized rubber sole materials commonly used in the market. In addition, combined with microscopic morphology analysis (SEM), it was found that, with the increase in the R/P ratio, the size of the rubber particles gradually increased, forming a stronger crosslinking network, but the rheological properties of TPVs gradually decreased; crosslinking network enhancement led to the increase in the size of the rubber particles, and the increase in the size of rubber particles made the material in the abrasion of rubber particles fall easily, thus increasing its abrasion volume. Through dynamic mechanical analysis and anti-slip tests, when the R/P ratio was 40/100, the tan δ of TPVs at 0 °C was 0.35, which represents an ordinary vulcanized rubber sole material in the market. The viscoelasticity of TPVs increased with the increase in the R/P ratio, which improved the anti-slip performance of TPVs. SSBR/TPE TPVs are expected to be used in footwear and automotive fields due to their excellent abrasion resistance and anti-slip performance.

Keywords: anti-slip properties; dynamic vulcanization; solution-polymerized styrene butadiene rubber (SSBR); thermoplastic elastomer (TPE); wear resistant.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Scheme 1
Scheme 1
Flowchart for preparation of SSBR/TPE TPVs. Note: Various types of additives (phr) employed: ZnO 3.0, stearic acid 2.0, SiO2 15, sulfur 0.8, DM 1.2, TMTD 0.4.
Figure 1
Figure 1
Torque–time during preparation of SSBR/TPE TPVs preparation process.
Figure 2
Figure 2
(A) Tensile strength and tear strength. (B) Hardness and resilience of SSBR/TPE TPVs with different R/P mass ratios.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Compression permanent deformation of SSBR/TPE TPVs with different R/P mass ratios.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Melt flow rate of SSBR/TPE TPVs with different R/P mass ratios.
Figure 5
Figure 5
DIN wear volume of SSBR/TPE TPVs with different R/P mass ratios.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Micromorphology of SSBR/TPE TPVs with different R/P mass ratios after abrasion. Note: The circle indicates the void left after the rubber particles have fallen.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Micromorphology of SSBR/TPE TPVs with different R/P mass ratios.
Figure 8
Figure 8
DMA of SSBR/TPE TPVs with different R/P mass ratios.
Figure 9
Figure 9
(A) Static friction force and static friction coefficient. (B) Dynamic friction force and dynamic friction coefficient of SSBR/TPE TPVs with different R/P mass ratios.
Figure 10
Figure 10
Photograph of TPVs with R/P ratio of 40/100 before and after secondary processing.
Figure 11
Figure 11
(A) DMA of TPVs with R/P ratio of 0/100 before and after secondary processing and (B) DMA of TPVs with R/P ratio of 40/100 before and after secondary processing.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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