A new binary accelerator system for sulphur vulcanization of natural rubber

The use of 1-phenyl-2-4-dithiobiuret (DTB) as a secondary accelerator for 2-(4-morpholinothio)-benzothiazole (MBS) has been investigated in NR. It was found that irrespective of the concentration of DTB, all the cure reactions followed first order kinetics. Mechanical properties of the system were analysed for different DTB loading and the strain crystallising nature of NR is not affected by DTB. In order to correlate the observed technological properties with different types of crosslinks equilibrium, swelling and thiol treatment were done. Based on processing characteristics, mechanical properties and swelling behavior, the optimum dosage of DTB was found out.