A method to essentially increase the compatibility of thermoplastic polyurethane/methyl vinyl silicone rubber based thermoplastic vulcanizate

To simplify the production process of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU)/methyl vinyl silicone rubber (VMQ)-based thermoplastic vulcanizate (TPV), a series of block TPUs with different hydroxybutanyl terminated polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) content were used as the matrix to increase the essential compatibility. The impact of microstructure and macroscopic properties was explored. PMDS promoted the microphase separation of TPU, which increased the essential compatibility in TPVs. The essential compatibilization effect of PDMS made the tensile strength retention proportion of TPV relative to the raw material TPU at 40%, but the elongation at break could reach 192%, which had an excellent toughening effect. Moreover, PDMS made the limiting oxygen index of TPV-323 reach 27%. The analysis of the carbon layer proved that the Si element formed a silicon oxycarbon layer with excellent flame retardancy on the surface.