In this research work, ethylene propylene diene rubber (EPDM)
composites were prepared by incorporating wood sawdust and carbon black
on a 2 roll mill. The effect of wood sawdust content on the curing
characteristics and mechanical properties of EPDM composites were
studied. When the size of wood sawdust was fixed, it was found that wood
sawdust content had no effect on scorch time. The cure time, minimum
torque and maximum torque increased with increasing wood sawdust
content. Increasing the wood sawdust content tended to increase the
hardness of the composites, but the tensile strength and elongation at break
decreased, heat ageing resistance and ozone resistance slightly decreased.
Moreover, the types and concentrations of coupling agents were compared
between silane Si69 and epoxidized natural rubber, ENR-50 (50 % mol
epoxide groups) on the mechanical properties of EPDM composites. It was
found that a silane Si69 concentration of 2.0 wt % of wood sawdust
improved the mechanical properties of the EPDM composites but ENR-50
was not able to improve interfacial adhesion between the wood sawdust and
EPDM matrix.