SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF ETHYLENE PROPYLENE DIENE MONOMER (EPDM) RUBBER MIXTURE

Rubbers have a wide range of usage in polymeric materials since materials with a wide variety of mechanicalproperties can be obtained by varying the type or addition rates of the materials contained in the rubber inaddition to the important properties such as high elasticity, good abrasion resistance, and low deformation. Highperformance properties of the material are provided by cross-linking (vulcanization). Raw rubbers do not containcross-links. In this study, it was aimed to examine the changes that may occur in the mechanical properties of thenewly prepared EPDM rubber by changing the composition of the available Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer(EPDM) rubber. For this purpose, a new rubber mixture, of which composition had been previously known andwhich was developed in this study, was prepared in two different Banbury mixers (tangential and intermeshingtypes), and both samples were subjected to mechanical and rheological analyses. The most important criteria inmechanical properties are tensile strength and elongation at break. As these properties increase, the final productbecomes more durable. When tensile strength and elongation at break of the EPDM rubber prepared according tothe new formulation were compared with the available EPDM rubber, a significant increase was observed inthese two values in the EPDM rubber sample prepared with the new formula. In conclusion, it was shown withthe characterization analyses that the newly developed modified EPDM rubber can be used in the rubberindustry.