The structure of vulcanized rubbers filled with carbon blacks has been investigated by using the pulsed NMR method.
The molecular motion and the amount of the degenerated rubber phase (C-phase) formed around the carbon blacks and the rubber phase (A-phase) apart from the carbon blackes have been analysed. The structure of filled vulcanized rubber has been compared with that of vulcanizates without fillers and that of plastics from the view point of the degree of molecular motion. At the same time our previous exprimental results on structural change of filled vulcanizates due to mechanical stimuli have been re-examined and the following concousions have been deduced.
(1) The vulcanized rubber filled with carbon blacks consists of a quasi-glassy plase (C-phase) around filler particles and a liquidlike phase (A-phase) apart from filleres. The molecular motion of rubber molecules in the former phase is rather restrictive and it gives the NMR half width of about 5 gauss. The thickness of the C-phase is about 45Å in the case of ISAF grade Carbon blacks, although it depends upon the reinforcement of the fillers.
On the other hand, the molecular motion in the latter phase, though it depends on the crosslink density, is as free as in the liquid, showing NMR half width of about 60-120m gauss in the case of natural rubber when the chain length between crosslinks Nl is in the range of 1000-150Å.
(2) A carbon black filled vulcanizates is a micro-heterogneous mixture of thermodynamically different phases-liqidlike phase and solidlike phase. Each phase changes to the more stable state by mechanical stimuli, namely to the more disordred state and to the more ordered state, respectively and the heterogeneity in the system develops.
The degree of change in both phases is propotional to the amount of the C-phase formed around the fillers.
(3) As the motion of rubber molecules in the A-phase is almost similar to that in the liquid, the fillers in the vulcanizates move to their more stable positions at a given condition by rotational and translational motions under mechanical stimuli.
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