Characterization of Crosslinks of Maleic Anhydride-Grafted EPDM/Zinc Oxide Composite Using Dichloroacetic Acid/Toluene Cosolvent and Extraction Temperature

Crosslink characteristics of maleic anhydride-grafted EPDM (MAH-g-EPDM)/zinc oxide composite were investigated by weight losses after dichloroacetic acid (DCA)/toluene cosolvent extraction at different temperatures and by measurement of crosslink densities. The chemical changes were analyzed using attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR). The weight losses by extraction at high temperature (90 °C) were remarkably greater than those at room temperature and those by DCA/toluene cosolvent extraction were greater than those by toluene one by more than 5 times. The crosslink densities were measured after the solvent extraction, and the second crosslink densities were higher than the first ones. The first crosslink density was lower when the extraction temperature was high, and it was much lower for the toluene extraction than for the DCA/toluene cosolvent extraction. The second crosslink density of the sample extracted with DCA/toluene cosolvent was greater than that extracted with toluene. The extracted components were depending on the extraction solvents and temperatures, for example; only strong crosslinked networks were remained when extracting with DCA/toluene cosolvent at high temperature, while only uncrosslinked polymer chains were extracted when extracting with toluene at room temperature. Therefore, crosslink characteristics of the MAH-g-EPDM/zinc oxide composite can be analyzed by comparison of the extracted components according to the extraction solvents and temperatures and by measurement of successive crosslink densities.