Flame retardant and durable chloroprene rubber and styrene-butadiene rubber blends crosslinked with copper(I) oxide

Abstract The purpose of this work was to investigate the effect of application of copper(I) oxide (Cu 2 O) as an unconventional crosslinking agent of chloroprene (CR) and styrene-butadiene (SBR) rubber compositions. The use of Cu 2 O arises from the need to limit the application of ZnO as a CR crosslinking agent. The obtained results indicate that CR/SBR blends crosslinked with Cu 2 O are characterized by good mechanical properties and a high degree of crosslinking The results show that the proportion of both processing rubbers, as well as the amount of copper(I) oxide, influence the crosslinking of CR/SBR blends and the properties of the vulcanizates. Performing FTIR analysis has allowed the development of a crosslinking mechanism. Crosslinking presumably takes place according to the mechanism of Friedel–Crafts alkylation reaction. Silica, chalk, china clay and nanofiller (montmorillonite modified with quaternary ammonium salt containing hydroxyl groups) were applied as fillers. Among the fillers, silica had the greatest impact on improving the properties. It is arisen from silica activity, unlike other used fillers. The AFM analysis allowed us to determine the miscibility of the rubbers and dispersion of fillers. Thermal analysis was performed to determine the changes occurring as a result of material heating. The low intensity of the peaks corresponding to the crosslinking of the CR/SBR blends may indicate a small amount of bonds formed during heating, or possibility is the formation of connections between chains with a low binding energy. The use of chalk, china clay or silica increases the thermal stability of the vulcanizates. Obtained vulcanizates were characterized by increased incombustibility. The study of combustion time in the air showed that the prepared vulcanizates did not support the burning.