Thermal Characterisation of Short Nylon-6 Fibre-Reinforced NBR Composites

The thermal behaviour of nylon-6 fibre-reinforced acrylonitrile butadiene rubber (NBR) composites has been studied by thermogravimetry (TG) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The degradation temperatures of fibre-filled composite systems have been observed to be higher than that of NBR. The percentage weight loss at different temperatures during thermal scanning has been found to decrease with fibre loading. Composite samples cured by dicumyl peroxide (DCP) exhibit a higher decomposition temperature compared to the sulfur cured samples indicating that the vulcanisation routes can significantly affect the thermal features of fibre-filled polymer systems. The addition of bonding agents (viz. hexamethylene tetramine-resorcinol and phthalic anhydride) enhances the thermal stability of the composites. The DSC studies indicate that the fibre-filled systems possess higher glass transition temperatures (T _g ) than the gum. The composites with added bonding agent show higher T _g compared to the other composite systems, which has been attributed to the stronger interaction between the fibres and the matrix in the former.