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 (NHBs), the fractional free volume (FFV), and the binding energy (Ebinding) 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 δmax) 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 (NHBs,Ebinding, and FFV) and macroscopic damping properties (tan δmaxand 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.