Effect of Ethylene‐Vinyl Acetate Rubber Powders on the Mechanical and Damping Properties of Silicone Rubber Composites

ABSTRACT The green crosslinking strategy for ethylene‐vinyl acetate‐glycidyl methacrylate terpolymer elastomer (EVM‐GMA) composites is helpful for the rubber development in the future. However, waste EVM‐GMA products continue to present challenges related to environmental pollution and resource waste. To address this issue, rubber powders were made from crosslinked EVM‐GMA sheets through physical pulverization methods and used as filler for silicone rubber to realize the green recycling and reuse of crosslinked EVM‐GMA. Compared with the EVM‐GMA powders prepared by using the low‐temperature physical pulverization method, EVM‐GMA powders prepared by using a mechano‐chemical pulverization method have smaller particle sizes and higher reactivity. Scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy observations reveal the EVM‐GMA powders are uniformly dispersed in silicone rubber, and there are transition layers between the two phases. EVM‐GMA powders/silicone rubber (45/100) composite has a tensile strength of 7.4 MPa, and an elongation at break of 232%. Dynamic mechanical properties results show that the maximum loss factor of the EVM‐GMA powders/silicone rubber composites increases significantly with increasing EVM‐GMA powders content. Notably, the composite retains excellent mechanical properties even at −30°C. This simple recycling approach to obtaining silicone rubber composites with good mechanical and damping properties also provides a new method for the high‐value recycling of waste EVM‐GMA products.