Investigation of crosslinking in the thermooxidative aging of nitrile–butadiene rubber

Chemical crosslinking is possibly the most significant factor affecting the mechanical behavior of rubbers. In this study, we investigated the evolution of network structures (the crosslinking degree and crosslinking density) during the thermooxidative aging of a nitrile–butadiene rubber (NBR) using characterization methods such as low‐dimensional NMR, solvent extraction, solvent swelling, IR spectroscopy, and mechanical property measurements. The NMR and solvent extraction results show the change of the crosslinking degree. The solvent swelling results show the change of the crosslinking density. The IR results show the chemical changes relating to crosslinking and chain scissions. Therefore, a comprehensive picture of the thermal oxidative aging of the NBR compound was drawn by the integration of various results from these methods. Crosslinking occurred throughout the aging process, whereas chain scissions took place and competed with crosslinking in the later stage. The crosslinking density increased at a nearly constant rate, whereas the increase in the crosslinking degree slowed down in the later stage. The crosslinking density was closely correlated with the hardness and Young's modulus. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015 , 132, 41319.