Preparation and Mechanical Properties Analysis of Rare Earth Filling Ethylene‐Allene Monomer Rubber Composite

Abstract Ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) rubber is used in critical sectors such as national defense, military, and aerospace. However, it has performance limitations under high temperatures, affecting its dynamic mechanical properties, creep, and stress relaxation. To overcome these limitations, rare earth cerium oxide (CeO 2 ) was incorporated as a filler into EPDM in this study, which enhances its properties and makes it suitable for the demanding applications. It could be seen that the CeO 2 ‐enriched EPDM has significantly improved mechanical characteristics at elevated temperatures. The Young's modulus of CeO 2 ‐enriched EPDM increased by about 100 %, while the energy storage modulus reaches a maximum increase of around 140 % at 165 °C. The addition of CeO 2 improves its damping properties, provides better creep and stress relaxation resistance, and results in greater residual strain recovery. At room temperature, the impact on the stress relaxation rate at 50 % strain is minimal for the material EPDM, and it is almost negligible for the material EPDM/CeO 2 .These findings demonstrate that CeO 2 ‐enriched EPDM has enhanced performance under high‐temperature conditions. Under elevated temperature conditions, EPDM enriched with CeO 2 exhibits enhanced mechanical properties, superior creep resistance, and stable stress relaxation behavior, rendering it more adept at withstanding the rigorous conditions encountered in aerospace applications.