Understanding Oil Resistance of Nitrile Rubber: Cn Group
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UNDERSTANDING OIL RESISTANCE OF NITRILE RUBBER: CN GROUP INTERACTIONS AT INTERFACES A Dissertation Presented to The Graduate Faculty of The University of Akron In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy Veronique Lachat December, 2008 UNDERSTANDING OIL RESISTANCE OF NITRILE RUBBER: CN GROUP INTERACTIONS AT INTERFACES Veronique Lachat Dissertation Approved: Accepted: _________________________________ _________________________________ Advisor Department Chair Dr. Ali Dhinojwala Dr. Ali Dhinojwala _________________________________ _________________________________ Co-Advisor Dean of the College Dr. Mohsen S. Yeganeh Dr. Stephen Z. D. Cheng _________________________________ _________________________________ Committee Member Dean of the Graduate School Dr. Gary R. Hamed Dr. George R. Newkome _________________________________ _________________________________ Committee Member Date Dr. Gustavo A. Carri _________________________________ Committee Member Dr. Roderic P. Quirk _________________________________ Committee Member Dr. Rex D. Ramsier ii ABSTRACT Nitrile rubber (NBR) is copolymer of acrylonitrile and butadiene. It is resistant to swelling by hydrocarbon oils. 1 Swelling and thermal degradation decrease as acrylonitrile content increases. Infrared-visible Sum Frequency Spectroscopy (SFS) is used in the present study to probe the molecular origin of oil resistance. SFS is a surface specific spectroscopic technique and was used to probe an NBR/liquid interface. Oil resistance of the NBR is reflected in changes in the SFS spectra of NBR at the interface. As reference materials, two additional polymers polyacrylonitrile (PAN) and polybutadiene (PBD) were included and analyzed prior to analyzing the nitrile rubber. SFS analysis of the film revealed a shift of the CN stretching mode at the sapphire/PAN interface compared to that of PAN bulk when the PAN film was annealed above its glass transition temperature. This demonstrates how environment affects nitrile dipole-dipole interaction. The influence of liquid environment on the PAN surface was directly assessed by comparing the SFS spectra of the PAN/air to that of PAN/heptane and PAN/water interfaces. This showed a minor effect of the solvent on the nitrile CN stretching mode of PAN. iii The second section was devoted to the analysis of PBD. A positive shift of the methylene stretching mode of PBD is detected in the SFS spectrum. This indicates that the polar sapphire surface influences the specific vibrational mode of PBD. Finally, NBR rubbers with 40% or 20% acrylonitrile content (ACN) were characterized. In the SFS spectra of NBR (40% and 20 %ACN)/air surfaces, a new vibrational band was observed at 2050 cm -1, in addition to the CN stretching mode of nitrile rubber at 2233 cm - 1. This band was not detected in bulk NBR (40% and 20% ACN). Additives in bulk NBR were determined using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). Results suggested the presence of amines molecules. However, purified NBR also showed the 2050 cm -1 band. There are a limited number of assignments that can be present in this range. This includes nitrile groups interacting with salts. Probable assignments are proposed after considering the chemical compounds present in NBR emulsion polymerization. The final part of this dissertation is concerned with the interaction between an NBR film and two solvents: heptane and toluene. No change at the sapphire/NBR interface upon heptane exposure indicates the stability of the NBR film in contact with heptane. This is in accord with the oil resistance of NBR to hydrocarbon solvents. Solubilization of the NBR rubber thin film after toluene exposure is revealed by changes in the SFS spectrum at the sapphire/NBR interface. This shows that SFS is capable of accurately detecting molecular changes at polymer/liquid interfaces. iv SFS results are consistent with the resistance of NBR to aliphatic solvent and instablity in aromatic solvents. Quantitative interpretation of the oil resistance will require an assignment of the 2050 cm -1 absorption band. v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank Dr. Dhinojwala for placing into my hands the most challenging opportunity I had the luck to live as a PhD student. Accomplishing the experimental part of this work at ExxonMobil Research and Engineering center represented for me an extremely valuable exposure to corporate research and environment. The key difference between industrial and academic research is the time constraint, that is why I would like to warmfully acknowledge Dr. Mohsen S. Yeganeh for managing the presence of a full- time student in his lab. His scientific input, professional experience and interest definitely guided my research. Working in the SFS lab was very enlightening from a technological point of view and I would like to express my gratitude to Shawn M. Dougal for his kindness and patience all along my stay. I would like also to thank Bernard Silbernagel and Paul Stevens without whom this collaboration between the University of Akron and ExxonMobil would not have been possible. I would like to thanks Robert Seiple and Critt Ohlemacher for their professionalism and help. Finally I would like thank my committee members, Dr. Gary R. Hamed, Dr. Gustavo A. Carri, Dr. Roderic P. Quirk and Dr. Rex D. Ramsier. vi I would like to specially thank Valerie Hill and Vicki England Patton for their endless resources and support. Both of them contributed in countless ways to the elaboration of this thesis. I also cannot forget Mayela Ramirez, Betul Buehler, Emilie Gautriaud, Gocke Ugur, Vasav Sahni and Sunny Sethi for their help in editing this thesis. Finally, I would like to thank our group of students who made of the laboratory a very enjoyable research environment. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................... xii LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................ xiv CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................................1 II. BACKGROUND.............................................................................................................5 2.1 Nitrile Rubber ...................................................................................................5 2.1.1 Polyacrylonitrile..................................................................................5 2.1.2 Polybutadiene......................................................................................8 2.1.3 Nitrile Rubber .....................................................................................9 2.2 Oil Resistance of Nitrile Rubber......................................................................11 2.2.1 Theoretical Approach........................................................................11 2.2.2 Key Experimental Parameter: Acrylonitrile Content........................15 2.2.3 Industrial Approach ..........................................................................16 2.3 Advances in Probing Polymer/Liquid Interactions...........................................17 2.3.1 Experimental Parameter....................................................................18 2.3.2 Linear Partition Model......................................................................20 2.3.3 In-situ Swelling Measurements of Thin Polymer Films...................21 2.3.4 Polymer Membrane Design ..............................................................24 viii 2.4 Summary...........................................................................................................26 III. PROBING MOLECULAR INTERACTIONS USING SPECTROSCOPY ...............28 3.1 Linear Spectroscopy........................................................................................30 3.1.1 Infrared Spectroscopy.......................................................................32 3.1.2 Raman Spectroscopy.........................................................................34 3.1.3 Non-Linear Effects............................................................................39 3.1.3.1 Hot Band ........................................................................................40 3.1.3.2 Fermi Resonance............................................................................42 3.2 Non-Linear Spectroscopy ...............................................................................42 3.3 Spectroscopy for Probing Interactions............................................................52 3.3.1 Acetonitrile Model Compound ........................................................52 3.3.2 Polyacrylonitrile Model Compound .................................................57 3.3.3 Frequency Shift at Surfaces ..............................................................61 3.4 Messages of This Dissertation .........................................................................62 IV. EXPERIMENTAL.......................................................................................................64 4.1 Polymer Thin Film Preparation ........................................................................64 4.2 NBR Purification ..............................................................................................66 4.3 High Pressure Liquid Chromatography Characterization.................................66 4.4 IR-Visible Sum Frequency Generation Spectroscopy Measurements