Infrared spectroscopy nitrile rubber

An unusual method for the preparation of syndiotactic polybutadiene was reported by The Goodyear Tire Rubber Co. (43) a preformed cobalt-type catalyst prepared under anhydrous conditions was found to polymerize 1,3-butadiene in an emulsion-type recipe to give syndiotactic polybutadienes of various melting points (120—190°C). These polymers were characterized by infrared spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance (44—46). Both the Ube Industries catalyst mentioned previously and the Goodyear catalyst were further modified to control the molecular weight and melting point of syndio-polybutadiene by the addition of various modifiers such as alcohols, nitriles, aldehydes, ketones, ethers, and cyano compounds. 

Infrared spectroscopy is a major tool for polymer and rubber identification [11,12]. Infrared analysis usually suffices for identification of the plastic material provided absence of complications by interferences from heavy loadings of additives, such as pigments or fillers. As additives can impede the unambiguous assignment of a plastic, it is frequently necessary to separate the plastic from the additives. For example, heavily plasticised PVC may contain up to 60% of a plasticiser, which needs to be removed prior to attempted identification of the polymer. Also an ester plasticiser contained in a nitrile rubber may obscure identification of the polymer. Because typical rubber compounds only contain some 50% polymer direct FUR analysis rarely provides a definitive answer. It is usually necessary first... 

Schonherr [43] has described the combination of decomposition in a thermogravimetry oven and FTIR spectroscopy for the identification of base polymers in elastomers, as exemplified for nitrile rubber, and has presented infrared spectra for decomposition products of various rubbers. The same author [36] studied use of the integrated TG-FTIR system for the identification of sixteen vulcanised rubbers in mechanical goods reporting the characteristic infrared spectra of the degradation products at temperatures ranging from 334 °C to 635 °C. 

The application of AFM and other techniques has been discussed in general terms by several workers [350-353]. Other complementary techniques covered in these papers include FT-IR spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, NMR spectroscopy, surface analysis by spectroscopy, GC-MS, scanning tunnelling microscopy, electron crystallography, X-ray studies using synchrotron radiation, neutron scattering techniques, mixed crystal infrared spectroscopy, SIMS, and XPS. Applications of atomic force spectroscopy to the characterisation of the following polymers have been reported polythiophene [354], nitrile rubbers [355], perfluoro copolymers of cyclic polyisocyanurates of hexamethylene diisocyanate and isophorone diisocyanate [356], perfluorosulfonate [357], vinyl polymers... 

Extrusion processing of polyamide-6 (PA6) with aciylonitrile butadiene rubber (NBR) of different nitrile contents, and at elevated temperatures resulted in graft copolymerisation between the two components. Improvement of the impact strength of the PA6 was at a maximum with approximately 10 percent addition of NBR and blends were soluble in formic acid. Products were characterised using infrared and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, differential thermal analysis and mechanical properties. 16 refs. 

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