Effects of Eucommia ulmoides gum content and processing conditions on damping properties of E. ulmoides gum/nitrile-butadiene rubber nanocomposites

Abstract In order to improve the effective damping of nitrile-butadiene rubber (NBR) in a wider temperature range, Eucommia ulmoides gum (EUG) was incorporated into NBR to prepare nanocomposites. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) showed that EUG was dispersed in NBR matrix in the form of nanocrystals. Compared with pure NBR, the mechanical properties of NBR/EUG (80/20) composites are significantly improved. Dynamic thermo-mechanical analysis (DMA) showed that there are two dynamic mechanical loss peaks in two composites. With the increase of EUG component, the peak value of loss factor (tan δ ) decreases gradually at −10 °C, and the temperature corresponding to the peak value tends to move towards high temperature, while the peak area increases gradually at −50 °C. Parking and repeated mixing make both loss peaks move towards high temperature. The differential scanning calorimetry analyzer (DSC) results expressed that the melting temperature and peak area of EUG after vulcanization decreased significantly compared with that before vulcanization. Hence, the damping effect of NBR can be improved and its damping temperature range can be widened by adding EUG and changing processing conditions.