Insight on the properties of multi-walled carbon nanotubes reinforced nitrile rubber composites cured by ionizing radiation or peroxide: a comparative study

A comparative study was carried out between ionizing radiation and dicumyl peroxide (Dicup) as two different curing systems for nitrile rubber (NBR) reinforced with different concentrations of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). Upon ionizing irradiation, the tensile strength (TS) of the composites increases with increasing absorbed dose up to 50 kGy and then decreases with increasing absorbed dose. TS also increases with increasing of MWCNTs content up to 0.75 phr (part per hundred part of rubber). TS values are decreased in the case of Dicup curing as compared with radiation curing. Other characterizations were made, such as the Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopies (FTIR), and morphological characterization, which give further implications for the good compatibility between MWCNTs and NBR phases. A study of the effect of fuel on NBR/MWCNTs composites showed that the composites cured by Dicup had lower values for swelling in fuels when compared with others that were cured by radiation.