Properties of acrylonitrile butadiene rubber modified with acrylate monomers and oligomers using gamma irradiation

Abstract

A CRYLONITRILE butadiene rubber (NBR) is commonly used as oil and fuel resistant in industrial applications. This study is carried out to investigate the effect of adding some acrylate monomers and oligomers that was used by constant concentration, namely (0.02 mol /100 g of rubber) to improve the physical and mechanical properties of (NBR) reinforced by 30 phr carbon black and mixed in a rubber rol mill, exposed to gamma radiation (doses from 25 to 150 kGy). The results indicated that the acrylate monomers increase the tensile strength (TS) at lower doses up to 50 kGy, while the oligomers increase the TS at higher doses more than 50 kGy. On the other hand, the physical properties such as soluble fraction, swelling ratio and crosslinking density showed dependence on the specific unsaturation (SU) of monomer and oligomer. The thermal stability of the composites tested by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) recorded comparable values except NBR modified by urethane diacryalte (UDA) have the lowest value.