The mechanical properties of a model hydrogenated nitrile butadiene rubber (HNBR) following simulated sweet oil exposure at elevated temperature and pressure

A typical carbon black reinforced hydrogenated nitrile butadiene rubber (HNBR) was exposed to a mix of hydrocarbons (toluene, heptane and cyclohexane) at elevated temperatures and pressure in order to chemically age the material. The effect of this exposure on the mechanical properties is reported; the most significant change is a dramatic increase in tensile stiffness for specimens exposed at 160 °C for 12 weeks. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) revealed changes in the glass transition behaviour of this material, with a general reduction in the magnitude of the glass transition with increasing ageing time. In addition, gravimetric studies of the swollen specimens after removal from the hydrocarbon mix showed that the more aged specimens underwent significantly slower drying rates compared to less aged specimens. These results may be explained by an increase in crosslink density in the materials being the main mechanism occurring during chemical ageing of these HNBR compounds.     

Mechanical properties of carbon black filled hydrogenated acrylonitrile butadiene rubber for packer compounds

Hydrogenated acrylonitrile butadiene rubber (HNBR) was chosen to develop peroxide cured and carbon black N220 (CB) reinforced high modulus vulcanizates with possible applications in packers for oil exploration. HNBR vulcanizates are investigated by Rubber Processing Analyzer RPA 2000 and stress-strain tests conducted both in elongation and compression mode. All the mechanicals properties were tested both at room temperature (RT) and 150 °C in order to reflect application of packers. The results show that the modulus of CB filled HNBR vulcanizates increases with the increase of CB loadings in shear, tensile and compression mode. The physical interactions resulting from CB reinforcements show a stronger temperature-dependence than chemical crosslinks formed by curing agent. So the addition of reinforcing carbon black will have limited benefit for producing packer compounds with high enough modulus at high temperature, but more amount of curing agent will contribute to a stable high enough modulus. It is testified the filler-filler interaction is more temperature dependent than filler-rubber interaction and more chemical crosslinks increase the filler-rubber bonding and slightly decrease the filler-filler interaction, which is confirmed by the reinforcement factors. Compression tests show a strong dependence on the geometry of the samples and the compressive Payne Effect is examined by the multiple compression cycles. It gets stronger as the CB loading is increased.     

Compression stress relaxation in carbon black reinforced HNBR at low temperatures

Findings of a study of stress relaxation behaviour of hydrogenated nitrile butadiene rubber (HNBR) at nominal compressive strains up to 0.4 and temperatures above and below the glass transition temperature T_g are reported. Two formulations of a model HNBR with 36% acrylonitrile content and carbon black (CB) loading of 0 and 50 phr were investigated. The relaxation function of HNBR is found to be independent of strain at temperatures right above the T_g or at times longer than 10⁻³ s for the deformations employed. CB imparts higher long-term stiffness and also larger relaxation strength at times longer than 10⁻⁴ s to the HNBR, but it does not affect the relaxation behaviour of the rubber in the time span from 10⁻³ – 10⁴ s. In addition, the relationship between the strain energy function of HNBR and temperature is demonstrated to have a complex concave-downward shape which is affected by two competing contributions of entropy elasticity and the stress relaxation.     

Influence of filler type and content on properties of styrene‐butadiene rubber (SBR) compound reinforced with carbon black or silica

Rubber compounds are filled with reinforcing fillers to improve their physical properties. Carbon black and silica have different surface chemistries to each other. Differences in properties of carbon black‐ and silica‐reinforced styrene‐butadiene rubber (SBR) compounds were studied. Variation of properties of carbon black‐ or silica‐filled compounds with the filler content was also investigated. The silica‐filled compounds without any coupling agent and dispering agent were prepared to investigate the influence of polar materials‐adsorption on the silica surface. Viscosity and crosslink density increased with increase of the filler content. Hardness, modulus, tensile strength, and wear property were improved more and more by increasing the filler content. Viscosity of the silica‐filled compound was higher than that of the carbon black‐filled one. Cure rate of the silica‐filled compound became slower as the filler content increased, while that of the carbon black‐filled one became faster. Difference in properties between the carbon black‐ and silica‐filled compounds were explained by the poor silica dispersion and the adsorption of cure accelerator on the silica surface. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

氢化丁腈橡胶/聚甲基丙烯酸镁/有机蒙脱土纳米复合材料制备及其耐介质老化性能

采用原位聚合和混炼插层相结合技术制备了氢化丁腈橡胶/聚甲基丙烯酸镁/有机蒙脱土(HNBR/PMgMA/OMT)纳米复合材料,通过XRD,SEM和TEM等测试方法研究了HNBR/PMgMA/OMT纳米复合材料的结构、形态和性能.PMgMA离子簇与未反应完全的MgMA单体形成纳米-微米共存形态结构,PMgMA对HNBR有显著的增强效果,HNBR/PMgMA/OMT纳米复合材料具有良好的加工性能、物理机械性能和耐介质老化性能.TEM结果显示MgMA/OMT并用有助于OMT剥离分散,有机蒙脱土在硫化胶中形成以剥离和插层为主、反插层和未插层共存的微观结构;SEM显示当MgMA/OMT用量为20/10份时能明显改善复合材料的界面结合,此时纳米复合材料的拉伸强度、扯断伸长率和扯断永久变形分别为30.2 MPa,520%和30%;同时具有优异的耐热空气和耐油老化性能,耐热水性能也明显改善,在165℃的热空气、水和油中长期老化14天的老化系数分别达到0.61,0.63和0.84,其耐介质老化性能明显好于炭黑增强HNBR硫化胶及HNBR/PMgMA复合材料.良好的蒙脱土片层分散结构是提高HNBR/PMgMA/OMT纳米复合材料耐介质老化性能的主要原因.     

Optimisation of physical and mechanical properties of rubber compounds by response surface methodology--Two component modelling using vegetable oil and carbon black

Response surface methodology was used for predicting the optimal composition of vegetable oil and carbon black in rubber compounding. Central composite rotatable design for two variables at five levels was chosen as the experimental design. The data obtained from measurement of properties was fitted as a two variable second order equation and were plotted as contour plots using programme developed in MATLAB v.5. It is observed from the contour plots that the increase in cross-link density caused by the formation of rubber mono-layer from its multi-layer on increasing the carbon black loading upto the central point (50 phr) of experimental region increases 300% modulus and elongation at break and reduces the ultimate properties like tear strength and tensile strength. On the other-hand hardness increases with increase in solid inclusion of carbon black. From the contours it is observed that the addition of vegetable oil upto 2-3 phr, cross-link density increases due to its coupling action leading to increase in hardness and modulus and lowering of ultimate properties like tensile strength and elongation at break. Addition of further amount of vegetable oil shows less coupling and more plasticising effect leading to increase in tear strength, tensile strength and elongation at break and decrease in hardness and 300% modulus.     

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.     

Additive manufacturing of continuous carbon fiber reinforced poly-ether-ether-ketone with ultrahigh mechanical properties

Continuous carbon fiber reinforced poly-ether-ether-ketone (CCF/PEEK) composites have attracted significant interests in mission-critical applications for their exceptional mechanical properties and high thermal resistance. In this study, we additively manufactured CCF/PEEK laminates by the Laser-assisted Laminated Object Manufacturing technique, which was recently reported by the authors. The effects of laser power and consolidation speed on the flexural strength of the CCF/PEEK composites were studied to obtain the optimal process parameters. Hot press postprocessing was performed to further improve the mechanical properties of the composites. Various fiber alignment laminates were prepared, and the flexural and tensile properties were characterized. The hot press postprocessing 3D printed unidirectional CCF/PEEK composites exhibited ultrahigh flexural modulus and strength of 125.7 GPa and 1901.1 MPa, respectively. In addition, the tensile modulus and strength of the composites reached 133.1 GPa and 1513.8 MPa. The results showed that the fabricated CCF/PEEK exhibited superior mechanical performance compare to fused filament fabrication (FFF) printed carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastics (CFRTP).     

Influence of Carbon Black and Silica Filler on the Rheological and Mechanical Properties of Natural Rubber Compound

Rubber compounds are reinforced with fillers such as carbon black and silica. In general, filled rubber compounds shows smooth rheological behavior and mechanical properties. Variation in rheological behavior and mechanical properties was studied in terms of the filler composition using natural rubber compounds filled with both carbon black and silica CB/Si = 0/60, 20/40, 30/30, 40/20 and 60/0 phr (parts per hundred rubber is parts of any non-rubbery material per hundred parts of raw gum elastomer (rubbery material)). The rheological behaviour can be showed in measurement of Mooney viscosity and cure time. The Mooney viscosity of rubber compounds increase with the increasing the carbon black in the compounds. The compound filled with CB/Si of 30/30 and 60/0 showed abnormal rheological behaviour in which the cure time decreased suddenly and the increased at certain ratio during the measurement. The mechanical properties such as hardness, abrasion resistance and tensile stress at 300% elongation were studied. In the hardness and abrasion resistance measurement, the higher ratio CB/Si decrease contribution of silica, which resulting smaller of hardness value. Ratio CB/Si 40/20 gives an optimum filler blended. It is also clearly understood that higher abrasion resistance mainly due to the lower hardness value under the same condition. The tensile stress at 300% elongation of rubber compound increased with the increasing carbon black filler.     

Morphology and strain rate effects on heat generation during the plastic deformation of polyethylene/carbon black nanocomposites

The phenomenon of internal heat generation during the plastic deformation of polyethylene/carbon black nanocomposites at high strain rates was investigated using a high resolution thermal camera. Material morphology, strain rate and carbon black (CB) content were found to be critical factors that affected heat generation during tensile testing, and consequently changed the mechanical behaviour. Two processing methods (M1 and M2) were used to prepare the materials, with CB contents of 0.5, 1 and 3 wt.%. The results showed a significant increase in internal heat generation after yielding, with temperatures exceeding 70 °C for materials processed using M1 and 55 °C for materials processed using M2. The temperature increase was dependent on the processing method, the CB content and the strain rate. The increase in temperature due to plastic heat generation affected the properties of the material, reducing the plastic hardening and reducing the tensile strength at high strain rates. This is of significance when considering the use of these materials in applications involving high strain rates, such as impact protection.     

甲基丙烯酸镁增强氢化丁腈橡胶的结构与形态和性能

用不同份量的甲基丙烯酸镁(MgMA)作增强剂,过氧化二异丙苯(DCP)作硫化剂,通过混炼和硫化过程的原位聚合制备了氢化丁腈橡胶/聚甲基丙烯酸镁(HNBR/PMgMA)纳米复合材料,用XRD、FTIR1、3C-NMR、SEM、TEM、DMA和交联密度分析等方法研究了其结构、形态和性能,并阐述了MgMA改性HNBR的相关机理.结果表明,MgMA在混炼过程中粒径明显变小,部分达到纳米级.硫化过程中发生原位自由基聚合,并部分接枝到HNBR分子链上,HNBR硫化胶和PMgMA有可能形成接枝互穿聚合物网络(接枝IPN).随着MgMA用量的增加,纳米复合材料硫化胶的定伸应力、拉伸强度、扯断伸长率、撕裂强度和热氧老化性能逐渐提高.当MgMA含量为30份时,体系的拉伸强度和扯断伸长率分别为38.5MPa和545%,并具有优异的热空气老化性能.MgMA能明显增加HNBR复合材料的储能模量,并降低其损耗因子.随着MgMA用量的增加,纳米复合材料硫化胶的总交联密度(Ve)和离子键交联密度(Ve2)增加,而共价键交联密度(Ve1)下降,表明离子键对HNBR/PMgMA纳米复合材料的力学性能起重要作用.     

Enhancement of water barrier properties and tribological performance of hybrid glass fiber/epoxy composites with inclusions of carbon and silica nanoparticles

Water barrier properties and tribological performance (hardness and wear behavior) of new hybrid nanocomposites under dry and wet conditions were investigated. The new fabricated hybrid nanocomposite laminates consist of epoxy reinforced with woven and nonwoven tissue glass fibers and two different types of nanoparticles, silica (SiO₂) and carbon black nanoparticles (C). These nanoparticles were incorporated into epoxy resin as a single nanoparticle (either SiO₂ or C) or combining SiO₂ and C nanoparticles simultaneously with different weight fractions. The results showed that addition of carbon nanoparticles with 0.5 and 1 wt% resulted in maximum reduction in water uptake by 28.55% and 21.66%, respectively, as compared with neat glass fiber reinforced epoxy composites. Addition of all studied types and contents of nanoparticles improves hardness in dry and wet conditions over unfilled fiber composites. Under dry conditions, maximum reduction of 47.26% in weight loss was obtained with specimens containing 1 wt% carbon nanoparticles; however, in wet conditions, weight loss was reduced by 17.525% for specimens containing 0.5 wt% carbon nanoparticles as compared with unfilled fiber composites. Diffusion coefficients for different types of the hybrid nanocomposites were computed using Fickian and Langmuir models of diffusion. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Electrodeposition of tantalum on carbon black in non-aqueous solution and its electrocatalytic properties

In this work, we synthesized tantalum (Ta) nanoclusters on carbon black (Ta/CB) via simple electrodeposition in non-aqueous solvent, acetonitrile (ACN) at ambient temperature. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images showed that the electrodeposited Ta nanoclusters consisted of tiny Ta nanoparticles. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) result represented that the outermost Ta formed the native oxide on Ta/CB due to its ambient exposure to air. Electrochemical catalytic properties of prepared Ta/CB on glassy carbon electrode (Ta/CB/GC) were investigated toward reductions of oxygen and hydrogen peroxide, and oxidations of ascorbic acid and dopamine. For oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in acid, Ta/CB/GC represented a decent electrocatalytic performance which was better or comparable to bare Pt. The operational stability in acidic condition was maintained up to 500 repetitive potential cycles presumably due to the protective native Ta oxide layer. Ta/CB/GC also showed high amperometric sensitivity (4.5 (±0.1₆) mA mM⁻¹ cm⁻², n = 5) for reduction of hydrogen peroxide in 0.1 M phosphate buffer solution (PBS, pH 7.4). In addition, Ta/CB/GC was demonstrated for the possibility of simultaneous detection of ascorbic acid and dopamine using differential pulse voltammetry (DPV).     

Effect of carbon nanofibers on mechanical and electrical behaviors of acrylonitrile‐butadiene rubber composites

Recently, carbon nanofibers have become an innovative reinforcing filler that has drawn increased attention from researchers. In this work, the reinforcement of acrylonitrile butadiene rubber (NBR) with carbon nanofibers (CNFs) was studied to determine the potential of carbon nanofibers as reinforcing filler in rubber technology. Furthermore, the performance of NBR compounds filled with carbon nanofibers was compared with the composites containing carbon black characterized by spherical particle type. Filler dispersion in elastomer matrix plays an essential role in polymer reinforcement, so we also analyzed the influence of dispersing agents on the performance of NBR composites. We applied several types of dispersing agents: anionic, cationic, nonionic, and ionic liquids. The fillers were characterized by dibutylphtalate absorption analysis, aggregate size, and rheological properties of filler suspensions. The vulcanization kinetics of rubber compounds, crosslink density, mechanical properties, hysteresis, and conductive properties of vulcanizates were also investigated. Moreover, scanning electron microscopy images were used to determine the filler dispersion in the elastomer matrix. The incorporation of the carbon nanofibers has a superior influence on the tensile strength of NBR compared with the samples containing carbon black. It was observed that addition of studied dispersing agents affected the performance of NBR/CNF and NBR/carbon black materials. Especially, the application of nonylphenyl poly(ethylene glycol) ether and 1‐butyl‐3‐methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate contributed to enhanced mechanical properties and electrical conductivity of NBR/CNF composites.     

Radiation effect on properties of carbon black filled NBR/EPDM rubber blends

Rubber blend of acrylonitrile butadiene rubber (NBR) and ethylene-propylene diene monomer (EPDM) rubber (50/50) has been loaded with increasing contents, up to 100 phr, of reinforcing filler, namely, high abrasion furnace (HAF) carbon black. Prepared composites have been subjected to gamma radiation doses up to 250 kGy to induce radiation vulcanization under atmospheric conditions. Mechanical properties, namely, tensile strength (TS), tensile modulus at 100% elongation (M₁₀₀), and hardness have been followed up as a function of irradiation dose and degree of loading with filler. On the other hand, variation of the swelling number as a physical property, as a function of same parameters, however, in car oil as well as brake oil has been undertaken. In addition, the electrical properties of prepared composites, namely, their electrical conductivity, were also evaluated. The thermal behavior of the prepared composites was also investigated. The results obtained indicate that improvement has been attained in different properties of loaded NBR/EPDM composites with respect to unloaded ones.     

炭黑结合橡胶对天然橡胶性能的影响

本文研究了天然橡胶(NR)与五种不同类型炭黑的结合橡胶对其混炼胶的应力-应变、流变性质等的影响。结果表明,NR与炭黑的结合橡胶量随炭黑结构和表面积增加而增加。结合橡胶的增加使NR在低剪切下的本体粘度、弹性恢复性和强度增加,塑性和粘着性降低;在高剪切下流动性变差,挤出物收缩则有所下降。此外,结合橡胶的增加也增加了硫化胶的交联度,因此模量、硬度和耐磨性提高,抗张强度和伸长率却有所下降。     

The effect of alkanolamide loading on properties of carbon black-filled natural rubber (SMR-L), epoxidised natural rubber (ENR), and styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) compounds

The effect of Alkanolamide (ALK) loading on properties on three different types of carbon black (CB)-filled rubbers (SMR-L, ENR-25, and SBR) was investigated. The ALK loadings were 1.0, 3.0, 5.0 and 7.0 phr. It was found that ALK gave cure enhancement, better filler dispersion and greater rubber–filler interaction. ALK also enhanced modulus, hardness, resilience and tensile strength, especially up to 5.0 phr of loading in SMR-L and SBR compounds, and at 1.0 phr in ENR-25 compound. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) proved that each optimum ALK loading exhibited the greatest matrix tearing line and surface roughness due to better rubber - filler interaction.     

Study of viscoelastic properties of white carbon black reinforced synthetic polyisoprene

The viscoelastic properties of synthetic polyisoprenes(PI) reinforced by white carbon black(WCB) have been investigated and compared with WCB reinforced natural rubber(NR), including cure characteristics, physio-mechanical and dynamic mechanical properties. Compared with NR, PI loaded with the same amount of WCB(PI/WCB) exhibited shorter scorch time and optimal cure time, indicating that WCB fillers are comparatively easier to conjugate with PI. The tensile strength and elongation at break decreased with WCB filling in both PI and NR vulcanizates. The hardness of the rubber vulcanizates increased with the WCB filling in the rubber matrix. PI/WCB blends exhibited smaller hardness data, lower tensile strength, as well as lower elongation at break and tensile stress. Increasing the amount of WCB in rubber matrix induced the Payne effect. However, the Payne effect is much more obvious for the PI/WCB system, and PI/WCB also displayed higher storage modulus whereas lower loss modulus and loss tangent than NR/WCB, which could all be attributed to the poor dispersibilities of WCB in the PI matrix.     

Influence of gel content on the physical properties of unfilled and carbon black filled natural rubber vulcanizates

Recently, gel content has been considered as a standard property for evaluating commercial grade natural rubber (NR). In this study, NR containing various amounts of gel was prepared by accelerated storage hardening as a model to clarify the influence of gel content on the physical properties of both unfilled and carbon black filled vulcanizates. Furthermore, the NR samples were investigated to determine the effect of gel fraction on Mooney viscosity and the structure of the gel after mastication. The results revealed that Mooney viscosity was related to the percentage of gel fraction that has been proven to be the result of interactions between proteins and phospholipids at chain ends. After mastication, although the gel fraction of NR can be decomposed to ∼0% w/w, the interactions of proteins and phospholipids at the chain ends still existed, corresponding to the gel content of the raw rubber. In the case of unfilled vulcanizates, the gel content showed no effect on cure characteristics, crosslink density and ultimate tensile strength, whereas the upturn of stress occurred at a smaller strain when the gel content increased. However, in the case of carbon black filled vulcanizates, the gel content played a dominant role in the carbon black dispersion, which was poorer when gel content increased, contributing to a decrease of crosslink density and ultimate tensile strength.     

Comparison of the mechanical properties at similar hardness level of natural rubber filled with various reinforcing-fillers

Commercially, the alteration of a rubber formulation is usually made in such a way as to keep the hardness of the rubber product constant. This is because a specific hardness of the rubber product sets the limit to its practical applications. Therefore, in this paper, natural rubber (NR) vulcanizates containing various fillers were prepared to have the same hardness level, and their mechanical properties were compared and related to the degree of filler dispersion. The results show that higher amounts of carbon black (CB) and silica are needed for CB- and silica-filled natural rubber vulcanizates to achieve the same hardness value as a NR vulcanizate containing 6 phr of montmorillonite clay. At equal loading of fillers, clay-filled vulcanizate exhibits higher modulus, hardness, tensile strength and compression set, but lower heat build-up resistance and crack growth resistance than those of the vulcanizates containing conventional fillers. For the vulcanizate having the same hardness value, CB-filled vulcanizate gives the better overall mechanical properties followed by the clay-filled and silica-filled vulcanizates, respectively. The explanation is given as the better dispersion of carbon black, as can be seen in the SEM micrograph.