Effect of Hindered Phenol AO‐80 on the Damping Properties for Nitrile‐Butadiene Rubber/Phenolic Resin: Molecular Simulation and Experimental Study

Abstract A combined study of molecular dynamics (MD) simulation, experimental, and linear regression analysis method is presented for hindered phenol of 3,9‐bis[1,1‐dimethyl‐2‐{b‐(3‐tertbutyl‐4‐hydroxy‐5‐methylphenyl)propionyloxy}ethyl]‐2,4,8,10‐tetraoxaspiro‐[5,5]‐undecane (AO‐80)/nitrile‐butadiene rubber/linear phenolic resin (AO‐80/NBR/PR) composites with different AO‐80 contents to quantitatively establish the relations between microstructure and damping performance. The number of hydrogen bonds ( N HBs ), the fractional free volume (FFV), and the binding energy ( E binding ) of AO‐80/NBR/PR composites with different AO‐80 content are calculated by MD simulation from the microscopic scale. Damping parameters, including the loss factor peak (tan δ max ) and the loss peak area (TA) (tan δ > 0.3), are obtained by dynamic mechanical analysis from macroscopic scale. The quantitative relationships between microstructure parameters ( N HBs , E binding , and FFV) and macroscopic damping properties (tan δ max and TA) are obtained by linear regression analysis. This research is expected to provide a theoretical guidance for improving the damping performance of rubber‐based organic hybrid composites.