Patent ID: 8865838

Claim:
A method for making a thermoplastic vulcanizate, the method comprising the steps of: charging vulcanizable rubber and a first thermoplastic resin to a reactor to form a molten mass, wherein the first thermoplastic resin is substantially devoid of a catalyst for the phenolic resin; charging a masterbatch consisting essentially of a second thermoplastic resin and a catalyst for a phenolic resin curative to the molten mass in the reactor, wherein the masterbatch contains ≧10 wt% and ≦90 wt% of the catalyst based on the total weight of the masterbatch and wherein the masterbatch contains less than 1 wt% of material other than the catalyst or the second thermoplastic resin based on the weight of the masterbatch; charging a phenolic resin curative to the molten mass reactor; and dynamically vulcanizing the rubber with the phenolic resin curative in the presence of the catalyst.