Thermal stability of acrylonitrile/chlorosulphonated polyethylene rubber blend

The properties of chlorosulphonated polyethylene (CSM) rubber, acrylonitrile rubber (NBR) and their blend (50/50 w/w) were studied. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) studies supported that CSM/NBR rubber blend is self curable, when cross-linking takes place between acrylonitrile groups of NBR and –SO₂Cl groups or in situ generated allyl chloride moieties of CSM. The thermal stability of vulcanizates was analyzed in nitrogen by thermogravimetry. It was found that the initial degradation temperature of elastomer based on CSM rubber is lower than of pure NBR rubber. By adding NBR to CSM rubbers, the degradation temperature of crosslinked material increased, indicating higher thermal stability. The activation energy for the degradation are determined using the Arrhenius equation The activation energies for the rubber blends are higher than for elastomers based on pure rubbers. It was found that the mass loss of the blends at any temperature was between those of the pure rubbers. The differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was used for the glass transition temperature determination. It is estimated thermodynamic immiscibility of NBR/CSM blend based on noticed two different glass transition temperatures, corresponding to CSM and NBR rubbers.     

Effect of the spatial network structure and cross-link density of diene rubbers on their thermal stability and fire hazard

The paper presents the results of investigating the effect of the density and spatial network structure of diene rubbers (NBR and SBR) on their thermal properties and fire hazard. The rubbers were either conventionally cross-linked by means of sulfur and organic peroxide or nonconventionally with the use of iodoform (CH₃I). Based on thermo-kinetic analysis, the destruction activation energy of the elastomers investigated and their vulcanizates was determined under air and inert gas. The analysis of particular stages of their thermal decomposition was also presented. During the combustion of the elastomeric materials obtained, it has been found that their fire hazard depends not only on the elastomer chemical structure but also on the method of its cross-linking.     

Nuclear magnetic resonance study of rubber–carbon black interactions

The mobilities of polymer chain segments in mixtures of rubber and carbon black were investigated by nuclear magnetic resonance. Spin–spin relaxation time (T₂) measurements on cis-polybutadiene and ethylene–propylene–diene rubber (EPDM) bound rubbers detected at least two relaxing regions: an immobile region and a relatively free region. The molecular motions in the relatively free region are still constrained compared to those of the pure gum.     

Influence of surface modification on thermal stability and flammability of cross-linked rubbers

The paper discusses the test results of thermal stability and flammability of cross-linked diene rubbers containing silica prepared “in situ” from alkoxysilane precursors. The effect of the surface modification of unfilled vulcanizates by means of aqueous solutions of halogens, boron and organo-phosphoric compounds on their flammability was also assessed. The thermal analysis has been performed in air with the use of derivatography. The flammability of vulcanizates has been determined by the method of oxygen index and in air. It has been found that the modification of the vulcanizates with tetraethoxysilane that makes it possible to form silica “in situ” considerably reduces the flammability of cross-linked rubbers. The surface modification of the vulcanizates with halide and organo-phosphoric compounds allows one to radically decrease their flammability. The boric flame-retardant agents are the most effective modifiers. The most beneficial results were obtained with the use of boric acid.     

Studies on phase morphology and thermo-physical properties of nitrile rubber blends

The study deals with the morphological and thermal analysis of binary rubber blends of acrylonitrile-co-butadiene rubber (NBR) with another polymer. Either ethylene propylene diene terpolymer (EPDM), ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), chlorosulphonated polyethylene (CSM), or polyvinyl chloride (PVC) has been selected for the second phase. Depending on the relative polarity and interaction parameter of the components, the binary blends showed development of a bi-phasic morphology through scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Use of different types of thermal analysis techniques revealed that these blends are generally incompatible excepting one of NBR and PVC. Derivative differential scanning calorimetry (DDSC), in place of conventional DSC, has been used to characterize the compatibility behavior of the blends. NBR–PVC shows appearance of only one glass transition temperature (T _g) averaging the individual T _g’s of the blend components. The partially missible blend of NBR and CSM shows a broadening of T _g interval between the phase components, while the immiscible blends of either NBR–EPDM or NBR–EVA do not show any change in T _g values corresponding to the individual rubbers of their blend. The experimental T _g values were also compared with those calculated theoretically by Fox equation and observed to match closely with each other. Studies have also been made to evaluate the thermal stability of these blends by thermo-gravimetric analysis (TG) and evaluation of activation energy of respective decomposition processes by Flynn and Wall method. Thermo-mechanical analysis (TMA) was found to be effective for comparison of creep recovery and dimensional stability of the blends both at sub-ambient as well as at elevated temperatures.     

Effect of hydration andpH on the thermal stability of proteinase K

The effect of hydration andpH on the thermal stability of proteinase K was studied in the temperature range 310–450 K by differential scanning calorimetry. The dependences of the denaturation temperatureT _d, the specific enthalpy of denaturation H _d and the maximum of excess apparent specific heat capacityC _ex ^max upon the degree of hydrationh and thepH of the buffers used are presented. The relation betweenT _d andh is of the Flory-Garrett's type. By means of Ooi's model, the two components of the denaturation enthalpy arising from hydration and conformational change, respectively, were estimated. The fact that the specific denaturation enthalpy of proteinase K is very low may be attributed to its very low enthalpy of conformational change per heavy atom.Dedicated to Prof. Menachem Steinberg on the occasion of his 65th birthdayThis major project was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China.     

Preparation and Study of Epoxidized Natural Rubber

Epoxidized natural rubbers (ENRs) with different extents of epoxidation (B) were prepared under various reaction conditions. The effects of the amount of H₂O₂ and the reaction time on B are discussed. The glass transition temperature T_g, the thermal degradation temperature and the activation energy of thermal degradation of the ENRs increase with B. The results indicate that the thermal stability of the ENRs increases with B.This revised version was published online in November 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The Use of Thermogravimetry in the Study of Rubber Devulcanization

Thermogravimetry was employed to study the changes occurring in rubber vulcanizates during devulcanization carried out by microwave treatment, a new promising method of recycling rubber waste. The thermogravimetric parameters T _i , T ₅ and T _p and the compositions of devulcanizates in comparison with vulcanizates were determined. The results obtained allowed estimation of the degree of destruction of the polymer chains in response to microwave treatment and permitted establishment of the most advantageous conditions of devulcanization in order to obtain the best properties of rubber devulcanizates for reuse in rubber processing. The results demonstrated that thermogravimetry is a very useful method for investigation and control of the microwave devulcanization process. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Influence of cryogenic modification of silica on thermal properties and flammability of cross-linked nitrile rubber

The article presents the results of testing thermal properties and combustibility of butadieneacrylonitrile rubber with 18% contents of bounded acrylonitrile, NBR 18. Two types of silica, Zeosil 175C and Ultrasil VN-3, with different specific surfaces were used as filler. Zeosil 175C and Ultrasil VN-3 were modified via cryogenic dezaggregation method. The activity of unmodified and cryogenic modified silica toward butadiene-acrylonitrile rubber were investigated. The sulphur and peroxide vulcanizates contained 20, 30, 40, and 50 phr. of the filler were studied. The article discusses also the test results of thermal stability and flammability of NBR 18 containing silica prepared "in situ" from alkoxysilane precursor. The test results were obtained with the use of derivatograph, measurements of flammability by the method of oxygen index, and in air. The effect of the silica modification on the SEM and AFM was also examined. The method of cryogenic modification enables to achieve increase of mineral fillers activity towards elastomer and reduction in the flammability of NBR 18 vulcanizates. It has been found that the modification of the vulcanizates of NBR 18 with tetraethoxysilane that makes it possible to form silica "in situ" reduces the flammability of cross-linked rubbers.     

Influence of carbon black on thermal properties and flammability of cross-linked elastomers

The paper presents the results of testing thermal properties and combustibility of butadiene-acrylonitrile rubber vulcanizates with different contents of bounded acrylonitrile: Perbunan NT 1845 and Perbunan NT 3945 from Bayer. The rubbers were cross-linked by means of dicumyl peroxide. Four types of carbon black with different specific surfaces were used as fillers. The test results were obtained with the use the derivatograph, DSC-204 of Netzsch, measurements of flammability by the method of oxygen index and in air. The results of measurements have shown that the thermal stability and flammability of the vulcanizates under investigation are affected by the activity of solid phase and the degree of surface development as well as the flexibility of polymeric chain and the degree of its unsaturation. A clear relationship has been found between the thermal properties and flammability of the cross-linked butadiene-acrylonitrile rubbers.     

The kinetics of the gas-phase thermal isomerization and decomposition of Trans- and Cis-1,2-Bis(trifluoromethyl)-1,2,3,3-tetrafluorocyclopropane

The kinetics of the gas-phase thermal isomerization between trans- and cis-1,2-bis(trifluoromethyl)-1,2,3,3-tetrafluorocyclopropane as well as their decomposition to trans- and cis-perfluoro-2-butene, respectively, and CF₂, was studied in the temperature range of 473–533°K, with an initial pressure of reactant of 1.5 to 7.0 Torr. Some runs were also made with the addition of SF₆ as an inert gas up to a total pressure of 100 Torr. The reactions are first order and homogeneous. The rate constants for the geometrical isomerization fit the following Arrhenius relations: and the corresponding equations for the decomposition of the trans and cis-cyclopropane are .     

Chain photohalogenation of ethylene at liquid helium temperatures

Photolysis of a halogen in solid 1:1 molecular complexes of ethylene with chlorine (1) and bromine (2) at 18–70 K led to the formation oftrans-1,2-dihaloethanes by a chain mechanism (with quantum yields of 25–30 for 1 and 10–12 for 2 atT45 K) but molecular addition occurred above 90 K to give thegauche isomer. The rate constant for chain growth is independent of temperature atT45 K, but is described by the Arrhenius equation atT50 K (E ₀ 1 kcal/mole). It is proposed that chain growth occurs by a tunneling reaction of the C₂H₄Hal radical with an Hal₂ molecule at a neighboring lattice site.Institute of Chemical Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, 142432 Chernogolovka. Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk, Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 10, pp. 2268–2277, October, 1992.     

Sulfur-Free Vulcanization of Modified Butadiene-Acrylonitrile Rubber SKN-40PVKh-30, Aimed To Obtain Elastomeric Materials Resistant to Aggressive Media

A study was made of the thermal, peroxide, and radiation vulcanization of modified butadiene-acrylonitrile rubber SKN-40PVKh-30 in the presence of a polyhalomethyl compound, 1,4-bis[(4-trichloromethylphenyl)dichloromethyl]benzene, with epoxy and phenol-formaldehyde resins and 4,4′-dithiobis-N-phenylmaleimide (a sensitizer) additionally included in the formulation with the aim to improve the technical properties of the vulcanizates and elastomeric materials. The parameters of the three-dimensional network of the vulcanizates were studied by sol-gel analysis; the total number of active chains of the network (1/M_c), number of cross-linked molecules \((1/M_{n_\tau } )\), and gel fraction content were determined for the thermal, peroxide, radiation, and thermoradiation vulcanizates.     

The effect of different types of carbon blacks on the rheological and thermal properties of acrylonitrile butadiene rubber

The influence of two types of carbon black filler N330 and N990 (primary particle size 46 nm and >230 nm) on elastomeric composites based on acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber (NBR) have been investigated. The activation energy (E _a) were determined from two high temperature rheokinetic curves (T ₁ = 180 °C and T ₂ = 190 °C). For tensile testing, the compounds with different content of carbon black were vulcanized in a hydraulic press at 150 °C. The stress-strain experiments were performed before and after ageing the specimens in an air-circulating oven at 100 °C for 168 h. The thermal degradation and thermal stability of carbon black filled NBR rubber was investigated by thermogravimetric analysis in a flowing nitrogen atmosphere at a heating rate of 10 °C/min.     

Effects of novel reactive toughening agent on thermal stability of epoxy resin

A reactive amino-ended toughener was blended with different commercial epoxy resins namely, diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A, diglycidyl ether of bisphenol F, diglycidyl p-aminophenol and 1,5-naphthalenediamine as curing agent. The toughener was an aromatic amino-ended copolyethersulphone (coPES):poly(ether-sulphone)–poly(etherether-sulphone). The effect of the toughener on the thermal decomposition and char oxidation behaviour of the epoxy resins was studied by the simultaneous differential thermal analysis and thermogravimetric techniques. The glass transition temperature (T _g) as well as characteristic parameters of decomposition, initial decomposition temperature (T _i) and temperature at maximum degradation rate (T _m), in both inert and oxidative environments, were determined in order to verify the influence of toughener on the thermal degradation of the different epoxy systems. It was observed that the presence of coPES maintains the high level thermal stability of the resin and that the glass transition temperature increase with the toughener percentage.     

Exponential temperature change in thermal analysis at non-isothermal kinetics

The applying of exponential temperature programming: dT/dt=T orT=T ₀ e ^t in thermal analysis at non-isothermal kinetics is discussed. An approach for the integration of the temperature integral is presented.     

Direct Observation of 103Rh-Chemical Shifts in Mono- and Dinuclear Olefin Complexes

The ¹⁰³Rh-resonance has been investigated at 2.8 MHz in mono- and dinuclear olefin complexes by steady-state NMR.-pulse techniques. For dirhodium complexes with scalar Rh, Rh-coupling, a selective rf-irradiation was applied to improve sensitivity. Within the same measuring time the signal/noise ratio is improved by the factor (T₂/T)^1/2 by this steady-state method in comparison with the usual free-induction technique. (T₁/T₂)-ratios, as obtained from the dependence of signal in tensity on the pulse-flip angle are discussed in terms of relaxation mechanisms and chemical exchange phenomena. From (T₁/T₂)- and (T₁ + T₂)-experiments, individual T₁ and T₂ values have been determined for C₅H₅RhC₈H₁₂ and Rh(acac)₃. The 103Rh-chemical shifts of 39 olefin complexes are reported. Shielding depends upon the (formal) oxidation state of Rh whereby resonances of pure olefin complexes appear at the low-frequency end of the δ-scale, which extends over 10000 ppm. For cyclic 1,3-diene ligands Rh-shielding increases with decreasing ring size and decreases with further conjugation of the diene systems. In the dirhodium complexes, Rh, Rh spin-coupling constants are < 10 Hz. Rh, C-coupling constants in (diene)RhCp-complexes increase, for the terminal diene C-at om, with increasing ring size of the 1,3-diene, ¹J(Rh, C) = 11.7 to 17.4 Hz.     

Thermal behavior of poly(α-n-alkyl β-L-aspartate)s

A series of poly(-n-alkyl -L-aspartate)s (n being the number of carbon atoms in the linear alkyl side chain, withn=1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 18 and 22), was studied by differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetric analysis. The effect of the length of the alkyl group on thermal properties such as stability, melting and crystallization of side chains, was investigated. For the polymers with n12, two endothermic peaks at T₁ and T₂ were detected separating three distinct phases A, B and C. The peak at T₁ corresponds to the melting of the crystallized paraffinic side chains (transition A-B), and the peak: at T₂ may be attributed to a transition (B-C), implying a liquid crystal phase.This work has been supported by DGICYT PB-93-0960 and PB-93-1241. F.L.-C. acknowledges financial assistance from the Venezuelan institutions Universidad de Los Andes and Fundayacucho.     

A study of an elastomeric coating based on EPDM of cold vulcanization

Studies of the thermostability of vulcanizates of ethylene–propylene–diene rubbers (EPDM) obtained by using dinitrosogenerating systems of low-temperature vulcanization are performed. It is shown that vulcanizates retain sufficient high properties in operation up to 200°C for a long time. The use of such compositions for producing thin rubber coatings applied on a number of insulating materials allows the effect of energy saving to be obtained.     

The elasticity of nematic networks

Nematic rubbers are composed of crosslinked polymer chains with stiff rods either incorporated into their backbones or pendant as side chains. When nematic effects axe strong, such rubbers exhibit discontinuous stress-strain relationships and spontaneous shape changes. We model such a rubber using Gaussian elasticity theory, including the nematic interaction via a mean field. Results are presented for the cases of uniaxial extension and compression. Under uniaxial extension the rubber can undergo a first order phase transition to a uniaxial nematic phase. Under uniaxial compression first or second order transitions are possible to genuinely biaxial nematic states with biaxial strains. When nematic effects are very small (i.e. T >> T_c where T_c is the nematic-isotropic phase transition temperature of the rubber) we postulate that the model is a good approximation to a conventional, non-nematic elastomer, and fit our model to data from an isoprene rubber.