The effect of dynamic vulcanization on mechanical properties and water absorption of silica and rubberwood filled polypropylene/natural rubber hybrid composites

Dynamic vulcanized silica and rubberwood filled polypropylene (PP)/natural rubber (NR) hybrid composites were prepared using a Brabender plasticorder at 150°C and a rotor speed of 50 rpm for 12 minutes. The effectiveness of the dynamic vulcanization was indicated by the Brabender plastograms. The mechanical and water absorption properties of hybrid composites with different concentration of sulfur were investigated. Significant enhancement in mechanical properties, viz. tensile strength, stress at peak, Young modulus and flexural modulus were observed for dynamically vulcanized hybrid composites compared to unvulcanized hybrid composites. This has been attributed to the increase in crosslink density, which was manifested by a reduction of water absorption and increase of stabilization torque at the end of mixing stage with increasing sulfur concentration.