The Flash DSC - a Novel Method for the Characterization of the Kinetics of Crystallization

Many properties of elastomers, such as the dynamic-mechanical behavior or the crack growth rate are influenced significantly by the crystallinity and the crystallization kinetics.

A prominent example is the stress induced crystallization of natural rubber the main reason for its outstanding mechanical properties.

Since stress induced crystallization is correlated with the kinetics of regular crystallization behavior, the knowledge of the crystallization behavior is a prerequisite for the selective optimization of the mechanical properties of elastomers.

In this work we present a novel method, the fast scanning calorimetry (Flash DSC), for the characterization of the kinetics of crystallization. The main focus of our investigations is on the characterization of the crystallization behavior of typical tire elastomers such as natural rubber and polybutadiene as well as on elastomers containing ethylene sequences in the main chain such as HNBR, EVM and EPDM.

One result of our study is information about the crystallinity and crystallization kinetics which could be determined as a function of the length of the ethylene sequences in the main chain.