NMR Relaxation of Filled Rubbers

A low-resolution proton NMR method is one of the few techniques that have so far proved to be suitable for studying elastomer-filler interactions in carbon-black-filled conventional rubbers and silica-filled silicon rubbers [20, 62, 79]. It was pointed out by McBrierty and Kenny that Many of the basic characteristics of filled elastomers are revealed by low resolution spectra while the more sophisticated techniques and site specific information refine interpretations and clarify motional dynamics [79]. 

Experimental studies of filled rubbers are complicated by several things, such as the effect of the magnetic susceptibility of the filler, the effect of free radicals present at the surface of carbon black, the complex shape of the decay of the transverse magnetisation relaxation of elastomeric materials due to the complex origin of the relaxation function itself [20, 36, 63-66], and the structural heterogeneity of rubbery materials. 

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