Combined sulfur and peroxide curing systems applied in cross-linking of rubber magnets

In the present work, barium ferrite in constant loading was dosed to the rubber matrices based on NR, SBR and NBR. Sulfur, peroxide and mixed sulfur and peroxide curing systems were applied for cross-linking of rubber magnetic composites. The application of sulfur or peroxide curing system leads to the formation of different types of linkages between rubber chain segments. As the structure of the formed cross-links plays a significant role in determining the final properties of rubber articles, the main aim of the work was to use the combination of curing systems in order to suppress the disadvantages of both systems and possibly to highlight their benefits. The results showed that composition of curing system has considerable influence on cross-link density of composites, which was subsequently reflected in typical change of physical-mechanical properties and glass transition temperature. The tensile strength was improved with increasing amount of peroxide curing system. The reason can be attributed to the presence of co-agent zinc methacrylate, which exhibits strong adhesion to magnetic filler and thus it contributes to the improvement of compatibility and homogeneity on the interphase filler–rubber. On the hand, there was observed no influence of curing system composition or type of rubber matrix on magnetic characteristics of composites.