Study on properties of hydrogenated nitrile butadiene rubber filled with polyaniline compound silica

Abstract Polyaniline was synthesized by chemical oxidation polymerization, and polyaniline‐silica (PANI‐SiO₂) nanocomposites were prepared by precipitation method. A reinforced PANI‐SiO₂/HNBR was obtained by filling the PANI‐SiO₂ composites into hydrogenated nitrile rubber (HNBR). The amino cations contained in acid‐doped PANI can electrostatically attract SiO₃²⁻, so that SiO₂ can grow directly on the surface of PANI, thus reducing the agglomeration of silica and improving the mechanical properties of reinforced rubber. The effect of PANI and PANI‐SiO₂ composites on mechanical properties of hydrogenated nitrile butadiene rubber was studied. The results show that PANI improves the dispersion of SiO₂ in HNBR. When the PANI‐SiO₂ composite (PANI content of 2%) in PANI‐SiO₂/HNBR is 30 phr, the filler network is the weakest, and the dispersion of filler is the best in rubber, the maximum tensile strength of PANI‐SiO₂/HNBR is 30.31 MPa, which is 1.87 times that of SiO₂/HNBR, the tear strength is 27.7 MPa, which is 129.4% of that of SiO₂ reinforced packing with the same number of components. The hardness and elongation at break both increase. In addition, the permanent tensile deformation of PANI‐SiO₂/HNBR is also reduced.