Blends of poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) and fluororubber (FKM) were prepared in an internal mixer by dynamic vulcanization. The effect of FKM, with and without curing system, was studied with respect to the properties of the PVDF/FKM blends. The tensile test showed that the tensile strength and modulus decreased after blending but the elongation-at-break naturally increased because of the presence of rubber in PVDF matrix. The differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) test gave good indications of improved state of miscibility in most blend ratios. The increase of FKM content showed a favorable tendency of PVDF component toward crystallization. The incorporation of FKM as a coblend improved the thermal stability of PVDF, and the temperature at 10% weight loss of the blends increased. This was confirmed by one value of glass transition temperature obtained from DMTA test, which indicated two different values for pure polymers. The rheological tests showed that the complex viscosity and storage modulus of the blends increased with increasing frequency.

Keywords: poly(vinylidene fluoride); fluororubber; blends; dynamic vulcanization; thermal analysis