Studies on conductivity of nitrile rubber and its blends with NR,EPDM,and PVC

Abstract

Nitrile/butadiene rubber has been made electrically conducting by the incorporation of acetylene black. The change in conductivity and mechanical properties with varying amounts of acetylene black was studied. Nitrile rubber was blended with NR, PVC, and EPDM and their conductivity and mechanical properties were determined after incorporation of acetylene black. On comparison it was found that NBR-NR blends are more conducting than NBR-PVC and NBR-EPDM blends. Blends of NBR-NR containing varying amounts of NR and NBR were prepared with the same amount of acetylene black, and their properties were also studied. A blend of 80:20 NBR/NR was studied in detail by varying the concentration of acetylene black. It was found that electrical conductivity depends on the degree of dispersion of acetylene black in the polymer matrix.