The effect of rubber and plastic mass ratio on the compatibilized ethylene propylene diene monomer/polypropylene TPV with shape memory behavior

Abstract Thermoplastic vulcanizate (TPV) with shape memory performance showed great application potential in various fields. In this work, the effect of the mass ratio of ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) and polypropylene (PP) on the performance of TPV with sea island microstructure compatibilized by magnesium maleate (MgMA) and maleic anhydride (MAH) was studied. The compatibilized TPV 70/30 and TPV 60/40 obtained good shape memory property with the shape fixity ratio ( R f ) and shape recovery ratio ( R r ) of 87.3%, 96.7% and 91%, 86.6% respectively. R f increased with more PP content and decreased with more EPDM content, however R r decreased with more PP content and increased with more EPDM content. The maximum R f of 95.4% and the maximum R r of 100% of TPV were obtained at the EPDM/PP mass ratio of 20/80 and 80/20 respectively. The tensile strength and elongation at break of TPV increased with more PP content in the blend. The result of DMA, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), and SEM demonstrated the compatibility effect of MgMA and MAH on EPDM and PP interface.