Assignment of Effective Network Chains in Cured Rubbers Derived from Chemical Crosslinking, Entanglements, Polymer End Linking to Carbon Black and Filler Interaction: VII. Tensile Retraction Measurements
Abstract The individual contributions to effective network chains from chemical cross-links and from trapped polymer chain entanglements were estimated for gum rubber compounds using Tensile Retraction (TR). In addition, the influences of carbon black and of polymers with functional end-groups, on the character of the polymer network in filled compounds were explored. The effective network chain contributions were established for gum vulcanizates through an entanglement model and an independent estimate of the polymer molecular weight between entanglements, Me. It was found that Me was related closely to the extrapolated γ intercepts obtained from the TR of cured gums. The gum compounds were used to further estimate the effects of fillers and functional end-groups on the total number of effective network chains. Comparing an α,ω-difunctional SBR with its non-functional counterpart enabled the assessment of the effects of functional end-groups. The comparison allowed for the determination of the probability, π, that a functional end group reacts with carbon black. The π was seen to increase as the volume fraction of filler increased, and π2 provided an estimate of the fraction of functional polymer chains that react with carbon black at both ends.