Study on mechanical properties of elastomers reinforced by zinc dimethacrylate

In this work, mechanical properties of various elastomers with the representative structural features reinforced by zinc dimethacrylate (ZDMA) were studied. The results showed that there is great difference in reinforcing effects of ZDMA for different elastomers. Strain-stress curves revealed that the tensile-induced crystallization of chains might be the main reason for high strength of ZDMA/rubber composites at room temperature. The saturation and regularity of rubber chains are two essential features to determine the mechanical properties of the composites at room temperature. The kind of ZDMA makes considerable impact on performances of ZDMA/rubber composites, except for ZDMA/hydrogenated nitrile-butadiene rubber (HNBR) composite. The high temperature strengths of ZDMA/rubber composites are not high and are dominated by the polarity and saturation of matrix. Basing on the previous researching, a possible model for microstructure of ZDMA/rubber composites was put forward, which could well interpret the observed phenomenon. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.