Rubbers chemical resistance

High strength rubber Weather-resistant rubber Cold-resistant rubber Chemical-resistant rubber (resistance to oils, solvents, ozone, etc.) Fatigue-resistant rubber (packings, belts, etc.) Gas-permeable rubber (contact lenses, artificial lungs, artificial skin, etc.)... 

An extensive new Section 10 is devoted to polymers, rubbers, fats, oils, and waxes. A discussion of polymers and rubbers is followed by the formulas and key properties of plastic materials. Eor each member and type of the plastic families there is a tabulation of their physical, electrical, mechanical, and thermal properties and characteristics. A similar treatment is accorded the various types of rubber materials. Chemical resistance and gas permeability constants are also given for rubbers and plastics. The section concludes with various constants of fats, oils, and waxes. 

Nitrile mbber finds broad application in industry because of its excellent resistance to oil and chemicals, its good flexibility at low temperatures, high abrasion and heat resistance (up to 120°C), and good mechanical properties. Nitrile mbber consists of butadiene—acrylonitrile copolymers with an acrylonitrile content ranging from 15 to 45% (see Elastomers, SYNTHETIC, NITRILE RUBBER). In addition to the traditional applications of nitrile mbber for hoses, gaskets, seals, and oil well equipment, new applications have emerged with the development of nitrile mbber blends with poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC). These blends combine the chemical resistance and low temperature flexibility characteristics of nitrile mbber with the stability and ozone resistance of PVC. This has greatly expanded the use of nitrile mbber in outdoor applications for hoses, belts, and cable jackets, where ozone resistance is necessary. 

The ability to bond natural rubber to itself and to steel makes it ideal for lining tanks. Many of the synthetic elastomers, while more chemically resistant than natural rubber, have veiy poor bonding characteristics and hence are not well suited for hning tanks. 

Cork rubber 300 Controlled compressibility properties. Good couformability, fatigue resistance. Chemical resistance depends on kind of rubber used. 

About half of all pumps in the shop today were pulled out of service because they were leaking or wouldn t hold pressure or pump. This is most likely a leaking o-ring. The o-ring is the rubber component of most mechanical seals. The o-ring controls the temperature, pressure, and chemical resistance of the mechanical seal (Figure 14-1). 

The excellent chemical resistance of Aflas has led to important applications in oilfields and, more recently, in the car industry in place of FKM rubbers because of the better resistance to new types of engine oils, transmission fluids, gear lubricants and engine coolants. 

Oil resistance demands polar (non-hydrocarbon) polymers, particularly in the hard phase. If the soft phase is non-polar but the haid phase polar, then swelling but not dissolution will occur (rather akin to that occurring with vulcanised natural rubber or SBR). If, however, the hard phase is not resistant to a particular solvent or oil, then the useful physical properties of a thermoplastic elastomer will be lost. As with all plastics and rubbers, the chemical resistant will depend on the chemical groups present, as discussed in Section 5.4. 

Polyisobutylene has a similar chemical backbone to butyl rubber, but does not contain double carbon-carbon bonds (only terminal unsaturation). Many of its characteristics are similar to butyl rubber (ageing and chemical resistance, low water absorption, low permeability). The polymers of the isobutylene family have very little tendency to crystallize. Their strength is reached by cross-linking instead of crystallization. The amorphous structure of these polymers is responsible for their flexibility, permanent tack and resistance to shock. Because the glass transition temperature is low (about —60°C), flexibility is maintained even at temperatures well below ambient temperature. 

Soft rubber is obtained by adding 2-4% sulfur by adding extra sulfur (25-40%), the rubber can be made into ebonite, which is a hard, brittle material, having a wider range of chemical resistance than soft rubber. Soft ordinary rubber is chemical and erosion resistant, but its thermal resistance is not high (about 80 C). 

Epoxy resin paints, inferior to chlorinated rubber for resistance to strong acids, are excellent for dilute acids and strong alkalis. They produce a harder, more abrasion-resistant coating than does chlorinated rubber and are much better for resistance to fats, oils and many organic solvents. Table 3.50 gives data on the chemical resistance of epoxy resin coatings to different materials. 

Feet - puncture proof shoes, chemical resistance and insulated rubbers/boots with metal toe protection... 

Chlorinated rubber floor paints are probably the most common of the lower-cost floor paints on the market. They produce tough and chemically resistant coatings, but their adhesion to concrete is not always good. They tend to wear off in patches and cannot be considered as a durable floor treatment except under light traffic conditions. However, re-coating is a simple job and floors can easily be repainted over weekend shutdowns, for example. Similar paints based on other resins such as acrylics, vinyls and styrene butadiene are also used. 

Solvent-free high-build floor paints are available which can be readily applied with brush, roller or spray to a prepared concrete substrate to give a thickness of 0.10-0.20 mm per coat. Normally, two coats are applied and the first is often lightly dressed with fine sand or carborundum dust to give a non-slip, chemically resistant and durable colored floor, ideal for light industrial traffic conditions (for example, rubber-shod wheels). ... 

Vinyls Vinyl chloride co-polymer resins were developed in the USA in the late 1930s. They have better weather and slightly more chemical resistance than chlorinated rubber paints. They are generally resistant to crude oil but application is more critical. For example, they are particularly sensitive to moisture present on a surface during painting and this can lead to adhesion failure. They are also more prone to solvent entrapment than chlorinated rubber paints. 

Elastomers are used for their flexibility in seals, gaskets and hoses and to resist abrasion (through absorption of the kinetic energy of the impinging particles). The range of materials includes natural and synthetic rubbers and modem elastomers with chemical resistance. 

Chlorinated rubber is soluble in aromatic solvents, and paints made from it dry by solvent evaporation alone. In contrast to the vinyls, there is less difficulty in formulating systems that are suitable for brush application. It has excellent resistance to a wide range of chemicals and to water, but as it is extremely brittle it needs to be plasticised. To preserve chemical resistance it is necessary to use inert plasticisers such as chlorinated paraffin wax. Due to the presence of ozone depleting solvents, chlorinated rubber coatings are being phased out and largely replaced by vinyl acrylic coatings which have very similar performance and can be formulated from lower aromatic or aliphatic solvents. 

Polychloroprene and acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber compounds have satisfactory chemical resistance but, except for phosphoric acid, are not suitable for mineral acids at higher concentrations. However, they have good resistance to oils, acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber being the better, and so are often used in oil-contaminated aqueous environments. Generally, abrasion resistance is only fair. Normal maximum working temperature is about 100°C. Acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber ebonites are sometimes used especially where solvent contamination occurs, but are normally very brittle and so should be used with care. 

Butyl rubber, halogenated butyl rubber linings and ethylene propylene rubber linings have excellent chemical resistance at temperatures up to 120°C. There are cases where butyl rubber linings have been subjected to temperatures down to —65°C without deterioration. Linings based on these polymers do not exhibit good abrasion resistance, which can only be rated as fair. 

Chlorosulphonated polyethylene rubber (Hypalon) has excellent chemical resistance even to oxidative acids at elevated temperatures. When specially compounded it can have excellent abrasion resistance in some operating conditions. 

The production of a rubber lining includes the preparation of the rubber compound followed by processing to form the lining sheet, substrate preparation, lining application, vulcanisation and inspection. All these stages require thorough quality control, especially compound manufacture and sheet preparation, as chemical resistance depends on satisfactory dispersion of the individual ingredients and undetected flaws in the sheet will cause problems in service. 

Styrene maleic anhydride SMA is a copolymer made with or without rubber modifiers. They are sometimes alloyed with ABS and offer good heat resistance, high impact strength and gloss but with little appreciable improvement in weatherability or chemical resistance over other styrene based plastics. 

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