Improving Thermo-Oxidative Stability of Nitrile Rubber Composites by Functional Graphene Oxide

Abstract

Graphene oxide (GO), modified with anti-aging agent p-phenylenediamine (PPD), was added into nitrile rubber (NBR) in order to improve the thermo-oxidative stability of NBR. The modification of GO and the transformation of functional groups were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman, and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Mechanical performances of NBR composites before and after the thermo-oxidative aging were recorded. The results of dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) show an increased storage modulus (G’) and a decreased value of area of tan δ peak after introducing modified GO into NBR. It indicates that filler particles show positive interaction with molecular chains. The thermo-oxidative stability of composites was investigated by thermogravimetric analysis (TG) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Then, the thermo-oxidative aging kinetic parameters were obtained by the Flynn–Wall–Ozawa (FWO) equation. The results of aging tests show that the thermo-oxidative stability of rubber matrix increases obviously after introducing GO–PPD. In addition, mechanical properties (tensile strength and elongation at break) of both before and after aged NBR/GO–PPD composites were superior to that of NBR. This work provides meaningful guidance for achieving multifunction thermo-oxidative aging resistance rubber composites.

Effect of Nitrogen-Doped Graphene Oxide on the Aging Behavior of Nitrile–Butadiene Rubber

“…This indicated that NG could effectively inhibit the thermal oxygen aging of NBR and enable it to maintain better mechanical properties after thermal oxygen aging. In addition, from our previous work [8], GO contributes less to the improvement of aging resistance of NBR, because it agglomerates easily and cannot form an effective network structure. Besides, it does not have anti-aging groups or the ability to capture free radicals in the NBR chains during the aging process.…”

“…To improve aging resistance properties, physical blending and chemical modification are deemed essential. Generally, physical blending is more popular because of its easy operation and low environmental pollution [4,5,6,7,8].…”

“…In our previous work, by grafting p-phenylenediamine (PPD) onto GO, the aging resistance properties of NBR/GO composites were effectively improved [8]. However, the amino group of PPD is in a para-position on the benzene ring and has a lower steric hindrance effect.…”

Effect of Graphene Oxide Modified with Organic Amine on the Aging Resistance, Rolling Loss and Wet-Skid Resistance of Solution Polymerized Styrene-Butadiene Rubber

“…In the first stage, the temperature corresponding to the maximum degradation rate of SSBR/PPD-GO was 10 • C higher than that of SSBR. This is because some of the free radicals generated in the thermal oxygen degradation process were captured by the amino group on PPD-GO [6]. Figure 6b showed the DSC curve of SSBR/PPD-GO.…”

“…In the past decades, nanoparticles have received increasing interest owing to its unique structural and surface properties. There are many nanoparticles have been applied to improve the performances of rubber, such as graphene [5][6][7][8], layered double hydroxide [9,10], nano silica [11], carbon nano tubes [12], montmorillonite [13,14], ect. The properties of nanocomposites are better than that of conventional composites in the same composition due to the quantum effect and surface effect caused by the small…”