This article reports on the relationship between the variation of hydrogen bonding and macroscopic properties of composites composed of hydrogenated nitrile butadiene rubber (HNBR) and 3,9‐bis {1,1‐dimethyl‐2 [β‐(3‐tert‐butyl‐4‐hydroxy‐5‐methylphenyl) propionyloxy] ethyl}‐2,4,8,10‐tetraoxaspiro [5,5]‐undecane (AO‐80). Hydrogen bonding of the composites was studied by Fourier‐transform infrared (FT‐IR) and ultraviolet (UV) spectroscopies. FT‐IR spectra at room temperature revealed that the stretching vibration peak of OH and CO of AO‐80 red shifted with increasing AO‐80 content, whereas that of C≡N of HNBR blue shifted only when the AO‐80 content exceeded 10 parts per 100 resin (phr). At elevated temperatures, the shift was the opposite for CO and C≡N bands resulting from hydrogen bonding dissociation. In the UV spectra, the E2 band of benzene ring of AO‐80 exhibited two peaks differing in shape. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2011. © 2010 Society of Plastics Engineers