Low-frequency losses in rubbers cross-linked in the presence of diluent

Measurements of the complex shear compliance have been made from 0.1 to 7 cycles/sec. and from ?5° to 45°C. on several samples of natural rubber cross-linked by dicumyl peroxide in the presence of a diluent oil (volume fraction of rubber, v₂, = 0.63 and 0.76) which was subsequently extracted. The properties of the extracted vulcanizates were compared with those having the oil still present and with those of conventional undiluted vulcanizates. Measurements of the diffusion coefficient of radioactively tagged n-hexadecane in trace amounts through the polymer structure were also made both before and after extraction of the oil. The diffusion coefficient was higher in the presence of the oil by an amount consistent with the Fujita theory for concentration dependence of diffusion rate based on free volume considerations. The low-frequency mechanical losses (reduced to 25°C. by the method of reduced variables), as measured by the loss tangent, were shifted to higher frequencies by the presence of oil to a much larger degree than would be expected from the difference in local mobility gauged by the diffusion coefficient. The equilibrium modulus, derived by extrapolation to zero frequency, was diminished by the presence of oil to a greater extent than the factor of v₂^? expected from the simple theory of rubberlike elasticity. The low-frequency losses in the extracted vulcanizates were smaller than those in conventional vulcanizates with comparable degrees of cross-linking; the differences are attributed to differences in network topology.