Spectroscopic, Dielectric, Thermal and Hardness studies on uncured and cured Hydrogenated Nitrile Butadiene Rubber and Chlorosulphonated monomer

The enormous increase in the commercial demand for the rubber and the probability of the continuance of this increase in view of the great variety of purposes to which the material can be applied, demands a thorough understanding of its structure, composition and physical/mechanical properties. Hydrogenated Nitrile Butadiene rubber (HNBR) and Chlorosulphonated monomer (CSM) were investigated in the uncured and the cured form for systematic characterization by employing important experimental techniques. The effect of reinforcement and vulcanization on the properties of these rubber materials were comparatively studied with that of the uncured ones. The complete vibrational band assignment was made available for the rubber materials from FTIR spectra. The dielectric measurements were carried out for the cured and uncured rubber materials in the microwave frequency region by utilizing X-band and K-band microwave test benches. Further, thermal behavior of the rubber materials was studied from Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA). The thermal stability was studied from TGA curves and the activation energy for the degradation of rubber materials was calculated using Murray-White and Coats-Redfern plot. Further, the hardness of rubber materials in the raw and cured state were determined using Shore A durometer.