Effect of accelerators on curing characteristics and physical-mechanical properties of chloroprene rubber

In this study, the effect of different accelerators on curing characteristic and physical-mechanical properties of chloroprene rubber were investigated. In preparation of rubber compounds some accelerators such as CBS, MBTS, TMTD and sulfur in combination with ethylene thiourea (ETU) were used. The carbon black N550 was used as filler. The curing temperature and curing time were 150℃ and 30 minutes respectively and was constant for all compounds. The physical-mechanical properties of vulcanizates including hardness, modulus, tensile strength, elongation at break and tear strength were measured. The rheometer results showed that torque and scorch time were increased when CBS and sulfur were combined with ETU toward ETU alone system. The vulcanizates with TMTD and ETU had higher tensile strength, tear strength and modulus. Addition of sulfur in the presence of ETU curative could increase the mechanical properties such as hardness, elongation and modulus in comparison to ETU alone curing system.