IBN AL- HAITHAM J. FO R PURE & APPL. SC I VO L. 23 (1) 2010 Inner Tube of AL-Diwanyia Tyre Based on Natural Rubber Blends M. .A. Motar Department of Chemistry, College of Education, Al-Qadisiya University Abstract Most tubes are made from buty l rubbers, but certain types, such as giant tubes, are based on natural rubber because very high green strength is required when handling the uncured compound. By using blends of natural rubber (NR) and brominated butyl rubber (BIIR), it is possible to maintain high green strength in the uncured compound and improve impermeability and heat resistance of the cured tube. The best formulations are obtained in the presence of 50 phr of (BIIR) to achieve desired mechanical properties. Improved impermeability was obtained by using 50 and 75 phr of (BIIR) rubber in compounds. Blending of brominated butyl rubber (BIIR) with natural rubber (NR) enhances air retention with acceptable sacrifices in green strength. When using blends of natural rubber and brominated butyl rubber it is necessary to reduce the sulfur as the brominated buty l rubber (BIIR) content is increased. Introduction The use of halogens to modify polymers has fascinated research workers from the earliest days of the rubber industry. The utility of halogenation was first realized when chlorinated natural rubber was developed, followed by the introduction of neoprene by Du Pont[1]. A wide range of polymers, involving either halogenation of the monomer prior to polymerization or of the polymer after polymerization, was developed and introduced to the rubber and plastics industry. Included are fluoroelastomers, chlorinated polyethylene, chlorosulphonated, chlorinated butyl and, more recently, brominated butyl rubber[2]. Desp ite its early limitations, brominated butyl rubber offered some potential advantages over chlorinated butyl rubber in cure rate and adhesion. Polysar limited concentrated research and development effort towards developing a continuous solution process by which a highly stable and uniform brominated butyl rubber could be manufactured on a large scale. The result was the construction and bringing on stream of the first commercial brominated butyl rubber plant[3]. In this paper we have studied the synthesis giant tubes by using blends of natural rubber (NR) and brominated butyl rubber (BIIR). High green strength in the uncured compound , impermeability and heat resistance of the cured tube were improved by using brominated butyl rubber. IBN AL- HAITHAM J. FO R PURE & APPL. SC I VO L. 23 (1) 2010 Experimental Materials The polymers used as a matrix in this study are NR (SMR 20), and polysar bromobuty X2.The tetramethylthiuram disulfide was used as accelerator and sulfur donor. Preparation of the Rubber Compounds Four rubber compounds with different loading amounts of bromobuty l rubber were prepared. For rubber compounding, we used a laboratory mill, rolls dimensions are outside diameter 150mm, working distance 300mm, speed of the slow roll 24 rpm and gear ratio 1.4. Compound recipes are summarized in Table (1). After mixing, the compounds were carefully remilled into flat sheets on a two-roll mill.Rheocurves were recorded by using a Monsanto Rheometer ODR 2000 at 160 °C. The t90 time, which denotes the time for 90% cure. Permeability was recorded by using Constant Volume Method. The constant volume for the measurement of permeability is covered by ISO 1399. The apparatus consists of a metal cell having two cavities separated by the test piece. The high- pressure cavity is filled with the test gas at the required pressure, which must be measured to an accuracy of 1%. The low-pressure side is connected to a pressure measuring device, usually capillary U tube manometer with an adjustable height reservoir. The test cell must be maintained to within±0.5°C of the required temperature because the permeability of gasses extremely sensitive to temperature. The test piece is a disk between 50 min and 65 mm diameter and 0.25 mm to 3 mm thick, with a free testing surface of 8 to 16 cm 2 . After the cell and test piece were assembled the high pressure side is filled with gas at the test pressure. The increase in pressure on the low pressure side is then measured as a function of time, the manometer being adjusted to ensure that the measurements are taken at constant volume. Steady state conditions are indicated by a linear relationship between pressure changed and time and may take at least an hour to be established. Shore A hardness was measured at room temperature by using a Zwick duromatic. Tensile properties were determined by a tensile tester (tensometer 10) according to ASTM D-412 . Results and Discussion Cure properties The levels of the three ingredients (sulfur, zinc oxide, dibenzothiozoledisuphide [MBTS]) used to play a significant role in optimizing heat resistance and set (or growth) of tubes operating at service temperature. Zinc oxide plus minor amounts of accelerator is the proffered curing system. With zinc oxide, the choice of MBTS determines the balance of heat resistance, scorch, and cure times. By adjusting accelerator (MBTS), it possible to keep cure time constant and vary the scorch time to suit given factory process conditions[4]. See Table (2) Tetramethylthiuram disulfide was used very successfully as the accelerator and sulfur donor to provide good balance of scorch safety and better heat resistance. When using blends of natural rubber level as the brominated butyl it is necessary to reduce the sulfur level as the brominated content is increased. Because it exhibits reversion and has only fair heat aging behavior[5]. Physical Properties of Inner Tube Compound Containing Bromobutyl Rubber IBN AL- HAITHAM J. FO R PURE & APPL. SC I VO L. 23 (1) 2010 Bromobuty l rubber can be blended with natural rubber in all proportions to obtain desired compound properties[6]. Physical properties data of inner tube compounds are shown in Table (3). Inspection of the data shows large variations in many of the properties. In particular, tensile strength (18.8-12.0 MPa), elongation at break (510- 600%) and tear strength (51-37 KN/m) values vary widely. Tensile strength values are lowest for those compounds having high bromobuty l content; this is associated with the tendency of natural rubber to form crystallites when it is strained. See compounds 3 and 4. However, elongation at break values are highest for those compounds having high contents of bromobuty l, see compounds 3and 4. Tear strength values are highest for those compounds having high content of NR see compounds 1 and 2. Bromobuty l rubber in blends with NR in inner tube compounds shows improvement in the air retention for compounds having high content of bromobuty l. Impermeability A fundamental requirement of a tire inner liner is to minimize intra-carcass pressure build up, thus minimizing the danger of belt or p ly separations[7]. To minimize intra-carcass pressure, the liner should be compounded to have very low permeability , mainly by the choice of polymer, with black and oil levels in the compound having a lesser effect. For optimum Impermeability , the bromobutyl content should be as high as possible; carbon black level should be high, but at a level that will ensure reasonably low modulus and good flex properties. While oil, which increases permeability , should be kept as low as possible[8]. The effect of brominated butyl content on permeability is shown in Table (3). Conclusions Bromobuty l rubber can be used to improve the gas impermeability , energy absorption, resistance to heat, weather, and various chemicals. At the same time, natural rubber provides the properties in a brmobutyl compound mainly, higher green strength and tack; higher tensile properties; higher cured adhesion to NR compounds when using blends of natural rubber and brominated buty l rubber it is necessary to reduce the sulfur as the brominated buty l rubber (BIIR) content is increased. Refrences 1. Ohm, R.F. Edit. (1990)"Vanderbilt Rubber Hand book", R.T. Vanderbilt Co., Inc., Norwalk. 2. Parent, J.S. ; Thom,D.J.; Whitney,G. and Hopkins,W. (2001). J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 39:2019. 3. Waddell, W.H.; Kuhr, J.H. and Poulter, R.R (2001) in ACS Rubber Division Meeting, Cleveland, October. 4. Kuntz, I. ; Zapp ,R.L. and Panchrov, R.J. (1984).The Chemistry of the Zinc Oxide Cure of Halobutyl. Rubber Chemistry and Technol. 57(4): 813-825. 5. Waddell ,W.H and Rodgers,M.B. (2004). Rubber Compounding. In Kirk- Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, 5 th Edition. 6. Waddell ,W.H. and Rodgers,M.B (2004) .Tyre Application of Elastomers 2. Casing Presented at a Meeting of the American Chemical Society, Rubber Division, Grand Rapids, MI. 7. Fusco, J.V. and Hous, P. (1987). Butyl and Halobutyl Rubbers. In Rubber Technology, 3 rd Edition Editor, M .Morton. Van Nostrand Reinhold. 8. Waddell, W.H. and Rodgers, M.B. (2005).The Science of Rubber Compounding. In Science and Technology of Rubber, 3 th Edition. John Wiley and Son, NY. IBN AL- HAITHAM J. FO R PURE & APPL. SC I VO L. 23 (1) 2010 Table(1):Recipes of inner tube compounds with various bromobutyl loading Ingredients 1 2 3 4 Phr phr phr phr NR 100 75 50 25 Polysar Bromobutyl X2 - 25 50 75 Zinc oxide 4 4 4 4 Stearic acid 2 2 2 2 Sulfur - 1.1 0.55 0.55 MBTS 4 4 4 4 TMTD 1.5 0.5 0.2 0.2 Treated whiting 12.5 12.5 12.5 12.5 Paraffinic oil 10 17.5 17.5 17.5 SRF N774 40 60 60 60 Table(2): Inner tube compounds cure properties Compound 1 2 3 4 TS2a, min. 6.5 6.3 7.5 7.8 T90 b, min. 4 6 8 8 a Time required for 2% cure . b Time required for 90% cure. Table(3):Effect of inner tube compounds with various bromobutl loading on physical properties Compound 1 2 3 4 Hardness, Shore 53 53 52 49 Elongation, % 510 510 550 600 Tensile strength, Mpa 18.8 15.5 13.4 12.0 300 % modulus, Mpa 1390 1100 890 770 Tear strength (KN/m) 51 40 40 37 Permeability to air ( m 2/s.pa ) 9×10-17 11×10-17 13×10-17 14×10-17 2010) 1( 23مجلة ابن الھیثم للعلوم الصرفة والتطبیقیة المجلد على مزائج المطاط الطبیعي دأألنبوب الداخلي إلطار الدیوانیة المعتم محمد علي مطر جامعة القادسیة، كلیة التربیة، قسم الكیمیاء الخالصة األحجـام يولكن بعض األنـواع مثـل األنابیـب ذ، تیلیتم تصنیع معظم األنابیب المطاطیة من مطاط البیو ة ـاط الطبیعــي وذلـك الن القــوة الخضــراء العالیــ ـة عنــد (green strength)الكبیـرة تعتمــد علــى المطـ تكــون مطلوبـ وجـد (BIIR)والبیوتیـل البرومـي (NR)مـزائج مـن المطـاط الطبیعـي المعوعنـد اسـت. معاملة الخلطة غیر المفلكنـة ة فـي الخلطـة غیـر المفلكنـة وتحسـین عـدم النفاذیـة ومقاومـة الحـرارة من المم هأن كن الحصول على القوة الخضـراء العالیـ للحصـول علـى (BIIR)مـن مطـاط phr 50 ویمكـن الحصـول علـى افضـل الصـیغ بوجـود.لألنبوب غیر المفلكـن مـن مطـاط البیوتیـل البرومـي 75و phr 50 م كما تم تحسین عدم النفاذیة باسـتخدا. الخواص المیكانیكیة المرغوبة (BIIR) ومن جهة أخرى یؤدي مزج . في العجنات(BIIR) مع المطاط الطبیعـي(NR) إلـى تحسـین االحتفـاظ مـع (NR)مـزائج مـن المطـاط الطبیعـي المعمن الضروري عند اسـت.بالهواء مع تضحیات مقبولة في القوة الخضراء . (BIIR)تخفیض الكبریت كلما ازداد محتوى البیوتیل البرومي (BIIR)البیوتیل البرومي