Adhesion between ethylene‐propylene‐diene monomer and thermoplastics in two‐component injection molding: Effect of dicumylperoxide as curing agent

Abstract

Strong adhesion at the interface is an important aspect in two-component (2K) injection molding. It was therefore investigated whether dicumylperoxide (DCP) as curing agent in ethylene-propylene-diene monomer (EPDM) could stimulate interdiffusion and/or induce chemical bonding with thermoplastics. EPDM mixtures containing DCP concentrations between 2 to 8 parts per hundred rubber (phr) were combined with polar and non-polar thermoplastics. Changes in EPDM physico-mechanical bulk properties were analyzed, and the adhesion was evaluated by high temperature contact angle measurements and tensile testing. Results showed that DCP concentration did not influence EPDM-thermoplastic compatibility. However, EPDM adhesion with polyethylene (PE) did improve when using up to 6 phr DCP (57% adhesion) as crosslinking is promoted. While with polypropylene (PP), adhesion linearly decreased (from 55% to 35% adhesion) with higher DCP concentrations due to prevailing scission reactions. Adhesion through chemical bonding with acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) caused better adhesion at 4 phr (43% adhesion) compared to polycarbonate (PC) at 4 phr (13% adhesion) where only limited interdiffusion occurs. Thus, selecting the optimal DCP concentration is highly important to boost adhesion between EPDM and thermoplastics. Furthermore, at these optimal DCP concentrations, physico-mechanical properties require consideration as these properties were significantly affected.