Binary blends of Eucommia ulmoides gum and Nitrile butadiene rubber based on Materials Studio: Compatibility prediction, preparation and properties characterization

In this work, compatibility of Eucommia ulmoides gum (EUG) and Nitrile butadiene (NBR) were simulated with the guidance of Materials Studio (MS) software. The results illustrated that when the EUG content was less than 50 phr, they have good blending prospect at 398 K. Then, blending and vulcanization experiments were carried out to get the optimal blending and vulcanization process of EUG and NBR, showing that the blending process should be under 363 K for 30 min and the best-vulcanized process was vulcanized at 423 K for 50 min at component 20/80. A series of characterization results of the vulcanized binary blends of EUG and NBR indicated that they had more excellent anti-aging properties, mechanical properties, wear resistance, hydrophobicity, etc., compared with NBR. It is worth mentioning that molecular simulation, as a theoretical method, may contribute to our understanding of the structure-properties relationship for EUG/NBR blends.