Preparation and characterization of thermoplastic polyurethane–urea and carboxylated acrylonitrile butadiene rubber blend nanocomposites

This study deals with the preparation and characterization of novel thermoplastic polyurethane–urea (TPUU) and carboxylated acrylonitrile butadiene rubber (XNBR) blends. Blends of different compositions were prepared in tetrahydrofuran using a solution technique, following an ultra‐sonication. The chemical reaction between the two inherently immiscible blend phases was determined with the help of Fourier transform infrared‐attenuated total reflectance (FTIR‐ATR) spectroscopy and ¹H‐nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H‐NMR) spectroscopy. The identification of the new peaks in the FTIR‐ATR spectra corroborates the existence of chemical reaction between the carboxylic functional group of XNBR and the amide group of the TPUU. In addition, an increase in the network crosslink density of the blend investigated using ¹H‐NMR spectroscopy further supports the occurrence of the chemical reaction between the XNBR and the TPUU. The scanning and transmission electron micrographs of the blend morphology show a uniform dispersion of the minor TPUU phase in the XNBR. Furthermore, the existence of a single glass transition peak also confirms the enhancement in the interfacial miscibility. Additionally, the incorporation of 5 wt % of organomodified montmorillonite nanoclay improves the mechanical properties to a considerable extent in comparison with the unfilled blend elastomeric material. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012