Effect of Chemical Composition of BIMS on the Morphology of its Blends with BR. Part 1. Neat Rubber Blends"

Abstract

Paper No. 44

Ilan Duvdevani*, Andy H. Tsou
ExxonMobil Chemical Company
5200 Bayway Drive
Baytown, TX 77520-2101

and

Masayuki Yamaguchi, Costas G. Gogos
The Polymer Processing Institute and New Jersey Institute of Technology
GITC Bldg, Suite 3901, NJIT
Newark, NJ 07102-1984

*Speaker

Presented at the 161st American Chemical Society Rubber Division Technical Meeting, Savannah, Georgia, April 29-May 1, 2002

Morphologies of 50/50 (w/w) immiscible blends composed of brominated poly(isobutylene-co-p-methylstyrene) (BIMS) with varying chemical compositions and cis-poly(butadiene) (BR) have been studied by SEM. Blend morphologies of BIMS/BR blends were found to depend more strongly on the brominated p-methylstyrene (BrPMS) content in BIMS than the p-methylstyrene (PMS) content. An increase in BrPMS content, which enhances the polarity of BIMS, results in finer blend morphologies of BIMS with BR suggesting an improved compatibility between BIMS and BR.