Development of Carbon Nanofiber Reinforced HNBR Composite for Sealing Applications

Carbon nanofiber(CNF) as a novel filler has been studied by researchers with huge enthusiasm owe to its special properties, like light weight, sustainability of large deformation, chemical stability, corrosion and fatigue resistance, vibration and noise reduction capability, especially in rubber reinforcement. In this paper, cost effective carbon nanofibers (CNFs) are used as nanofillers in order to improve processing control and reproducibility for large scale engineering applications. Hydrogenated nitrile butadiene rubber (HNBR) is used as rubber matrix, for its outstanding performance in mechanical durability and chemical stability. Processing, microstructure, mechanical and thermal properties of HNBR have been studied along with nanofillers, CNFs and other conventional fillers, carbon black and silica. Mechanical measurements and microstructure analysis show that interfacial debonding happens in the hybrid-filler composites. The results indicated that the compatibility of CNF and conventional fillers is good and the modulus achieves highest at the cost of low elongation at certain ratio.