Abstract: Ter-polymerisation of ethylene, propylene and a non-conjugated diene monomer yields EPDM rubber, which is compositionally halfway between polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP). The combination of EPDM polymer properties (resistance against ozone, oxygen, and heat as well as non-polar solvents and inorganic liquids) fully explains its commercial success, making it the largest non-tire rubber today. Although EPDM polymer characteristics and product properties are well understood with more than 50 years of experience, a comprehensive view on structure/properties relationships is lacking. In this paper a more structured approach towards rationalising EPDM performance will be followed. A conceptual view on EPDM will be presented with emphasis on structure ® properties ® applications relationships in a comparison on the one hand with semi-crystalline PE and PP and on the other hand with other elastomers, such as natural rubber, butadiene rubber, chloroprene rubber and nitrile rubber. Key polymer characteristics, such as unsaturation content, polarity, and entanglement molar mass will be addressed.
Biography: Chief Scientist at Innovation of ARLANXEO Performance Elastomers, a global leader in the synthetic rubber industry. Structure/reactivity/performance relationships are the main theme in his professional and scientific career. Main areas of expertise are rubber crosslinking, polymer modification, reactive extrusion, and thermoplastic vulcanisates with more than 175 papers published. Holds a position as part-time professor on Rubber Products at the University of Groningen (NL).