The investigation of tensile properties of vulcanized natural rubber based on different curing temperature / Wan Nur Ain Syafiqah Wan Azman

During the past studies, the vulcanization of natural rubber (NR) using sulphur as the vulcanizing agent has been widely used and discussed in most research. The majority of elastomer cure systems currently include the formation of sulphur- containing crosslinks, typically using elemental sulphur in combination with an organic accelerator. Sulphur vulcanization by sulphur alone is an extremely slow process that can take many hours at high temperatures and may cause oxidative deterioration due to the prolonged exposure to heat and oxygen, resulting in poor mechanical properties. Accelerators are frequently used to reduce rubber degradation and accelerate vulcanization. In comparison to sulphur vulcanization, peroxide vulcanization produced a more thermally stable compound with higher high temperature resistance qualities. A small amount of DCP (3 phr) was used as the vulcanizing agent. The DCP/NR exhibit a high tensile strength of 1.73 MPa with the elongation at break of 379.63% at the curing temperature of 150°C with 5 minutes curing time. When higher temperature and higher curing time used, the tensile strength and %elongation at break decreases. Meanwhile, the tensile modulus increases as the vulcanizates became stiffer.