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Novel Approach on Analyzing Mechanochemical Wear Mechanism of Rubber Vulcanizates in Molecular Scale

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Degradation of Elastomers in Practice, Experiments and Modeling

Part of the book series: Advances in Polymer Science ((POLYMER,volume 289))

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Abstract

Abrasion, in other words wear, is one of the most critical degradation processes for rubber compound, and the wear resistance is the determinant factor of the tread performance and service lifetime of vehicle tires. In the present study, wear mechanism at molecular scale is investigated by quantum mechanics-based atomistic simulation with focusing on the wear phenomena of rubber compounds caused by mechanochemical reaction. By using quantum chemical calculation (QCC) techniques, we found that the weakest bond strength of carbon–carbon single bond of saturated rubber is higher than that of unsaturated diene rubber, meaning that saturated rubber is higher resistant to the mechanical scission and thus generates less polymer radicals. In addition, it is clarified that an alkoxy radical that is formed from the reaction of the polymer radical with oxygen promotes the polymer dissociation which would enhance the wear degradation. These QCC results suggest that hydrogenation of diene rubber is the straight strategy to strengthen the wear resistance against the mechanochemical degradation because the decrease in carbon–carbon double bond suppresses the polymer oxidation and the subsequent chain scission of polymer. To confirm the simulation predictions, the effect of hydrogenation on the wear performance is studied experimentally. It is shown that, as the QCC predicted, hydrogenated styrene-butadiene rubber is less sensitive to the mechanochemical wear when compared with conventional non-hydrogenated rubber. Gel permeation chromatography and near edge X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy are also carried out for structural analysis of the wear particle. The experimental results show that the hydrogenated rubber is less reactive with oxygen, which is in line with QCC results, in relevant to the result that the wear rate is greatly decreased. This paper, for the first time, demonstrates the successful development of new class of polymer with higher wear resistance, hydrogenated styrene-butadiene rubber, inspired by QCC results.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd., Kobe, Japan

    Shinya Nakano, Tomofumi Zushi & Toshio Tada

Authors
  1. Shinya Nakano
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  2. Tomofumi Zushi
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  3. Toshio Tada
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shinya Nakano .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Technische UniversitĂ°t Dresden, Dresden, Germany

    Gert Heinrich

  2. Coesfeld GmbH and Co. KG, Dortmund, Germany

    Reinhold Kipscholl

  3. PRL Polymer Research Lab s.r.o., ZlĂšn, Czech Republic

    Radek StoÄŤek

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Nakano, S., Zushi, T., Tada, T. (2021). Novel Approach on Analyzing Mechanochemical Wear Mechanism of Rubber Vulcanizates in Molecular Scale. In: Heinrich, G., Kipscholl, R., StoÄŤek, R. (eds) Degradation of Elastomers in Practice, Experiments and Modeling. Advances in Polymer Science, vol 289. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/12_2021_110

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