Spectrochimica Acta Part A 68 (2007) 323330

FTIR spectra and mechanical strength analysis

of some selected rubber derivatives
S. Gunasekaran, R.K. Natarajan a , A. Kala b,
a

PG & Research Department of Physics, Pachaiyappas College, Chennai 600 030, India
b PG & Research Department of Physics, Presidency College, Chennai 600 005, India

Received 8 September 2006; received in revised form 20 November 2006; accepted 30 November 2006

Abstract
Rubber materials have wide range of commercial applications such as, infant diapers, famine hygiene products, drug delivery devices and
incontinency products such as rubber tubes, tyres, etc. In the present work, studies on mechanical properties of some selected rubber materials viz.,
natural rubber (NR), styrene butadiene rubber (SBR), nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR) and ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) have been
carried out in three states viz., raw, vulcanized and reinforced. To enhance the quality of rubber elastomers, an attempt is made to prepare new
elastomers called polyblends. In the present study an attempt is made to blend NR with NBR and with EPDM. We here report, a novel approach
for the evaluation of various physico-mechanical properties such as mechanical strength, tensile strength, elongation and hardness. The method is
simple, direct and fast and involves infrared spectral measurements for the evaluation of these properties. With the applications of modern infrared
spectroscopy, the mechanical strength of these rubber materials have been analyzed by calculating the internal standards among the methyl and
methylene group vibrational frequencies obtained from FTIR spectroscopy. Also the tensile strength measurements carried out by universal testing
machine. The results pertaining physico-mechanical properties of the rubber derivatives undertaken in the present study obtained by IR-based
method are in good agreement with data resulted from the standard methods.
2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Rubber materials; Vulcanizates; Reinforced materials; Polyblends of NR with NBR and with EPDM; FTIR spectra; Mechanical strength; Tensile
measurement and hardness

1. Introduction
From the age of stone and metals we have come to the age of
polymers. Polymers have taken a vital position in all branches
of science and technology. Industry and polymer materials are
interconnected and inseparable. One of the most important polymers is rubber material which is a polymer of isoprene. The
technology of rubber began with the natural product known
as natural rubber (NR). It has been widely used in the form
of thin film in many applications such as tubing, balloon and
glove. Sruanganurak et al. [1] reported that the deposition of
poly methyl methacrylate (PMMA) particles on to natural rubber
latex film surface was successfully performed by the layer-bylayer technique via electrostatic interaction and the contact angle
measurement also confirmed the increase in hydrophilicity of the
polyacrylamide (PAAm) grafted NR film surface. An interest-

Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 99403 52846.

E-mail address: kalanivedini@yahoo.co.in (A. Kala).

1386-1425/$ see front matter 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.saa.2006.11.039

ing reaction of rubber is its combination with sulfur. Sulfur is

an unusual material. Given the right circumstances, it will form
chains composed of strings of its own atoms. No rubber is considered technically useful if its molecules are not cross-linked
by the process known as curing or vulcanization. The discovery of vulcanization makes a revolution in the rubber industry
and a whole range of consumer and industrial rubber products
soon became available in the market. The process of vulcanization converts the plastic properties of raw rubber into elastic
properties and thereby increasing its hardness and abrasion resistance. For many uses, even vulcanized rubbers do not exhibit
satisfactory tensile strength stiffness, abrasion resistance, and
tear resistance. Fortunately these properties can be enhanced
by the addition of carbon black fillers as reinforcing agent to
the rubber before vulcanization. Arroyo et al. [2] reported that
reinforcing fillers have more effect on its physical properties.
Manufacturers fill polymers with carbon black particles in order
to improve the stiffness and the toughness of the materials, to
enhance their resistance to fire and ignition or simply to reduce
cost [3].

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In developed countries nearly 60% of all rubber consumed is

for the automobile tyres and tubes. In heavy duty tyres, the major
portion of the rubber used is NR. Colom et al. [4] reported that
reused tyres whose surfaces were treated with various chemical acids, such as H2 SO4 , HNO3 and HClO4 , were used as
reinforcement material in high density polyethylene (HDPE)reused tyre composites. Reused tyre rubber, added to the HDPE
in small quantities, acts as a filler, improving the stiffness and
providing a more brittle behavior. They found that the treatment
with H2 SO4 and HNO3 improves the ability of rubber to interact
with the HDPE, increasing the materials stiffness. They reported
that the treatment with H2 SO4 was the most effective, whereas
HClO4 did not improve the materials properties. The scientific
communitys efforts in finding ways to reduce tyre waste has
leaded to intense research on rubber that includes the possibility
of applying it in concrete filler [57] in natural rubber vulcanizates [8] and blends with polymers [911]. In addition to this,
NR now finds extensive use in soil stabilization, in vibration
absorption and in road making. Even though, natural rubber is
an all purpose rubber but due to its shortage during the Second
World War period many synthetic rubbers developed and marketed. Currently synthetic rubber materials are used in a variety
of industrial applications requiring low water swell, high gum
tensile strength, good resilience, high hot tensile and good tack.
Synthetic vulcanizates used in rubber bands, cut thread, baby
bottle nipples and extruded hose. Black loaded compounds find
use in tires, motor mounts, pipe gaskets, shock absorber bushings
and many other molded and mechanical goods.
In an attempt to get further applications instead of making a
new elastomer, the blend can be made between any two already
available rubber materials. Blending of different polymers is the
most promising and feasible approach [12,13] and has become
technically important material. There is no doubt that the main
reason for blending is economy. Although a large number of
combinations of polymers are possible, there are a few that lead
to a totally miscible system. In the present study, we are interested to study the behavior of NR with EPDM and NR with
NBR. NR and EPDM are blended to combine the excellent
physical properties of NR with the ozone-resistant properties
of EPDM. The principal target application for such blending
has been pneumatic tire sidewalls [14], where ozone cracking
was seen as a factor limiting the lifetime of pneumatic tires.
As a consequence, many products dominated by NR, such as
domestic appliances and weather seal profiles for vehicles, are
almost entirely superseded by EPDM. Clarke et al. [15] have
been carried out experiments to test the hypothesis using carbon
black as the filler in blends of natural rubber (NR) and a nitrile
rubber (NBR) with an acrylonitrile content of 45%. Blends of
NRNBR (70/30) were prepared in an internal mixer with varying amounts of carbon black. The dramatic decrease in domain
size on addition of carbon black was nonetheless lower than that
predicted.
2. Aim of the study
Infrared spectroscopy is finding increasing application as a
means for identification of organic materials and analysis of

complex mixtures. The advantages of infrared analysis lie in

the facts that the spectrum of a molecule is a unique physical
property which is not altered by any changes in which molecular identity is maintained and that the individual features of the
spectrum relate in a definite manner to the chemical bonds comprising the molecule and can thus be interpreted regardless of the
total configuration. Procedures for accurate determination of the
identities and proportions of the elastomers present in a finished
product are needed throughout the rubber industry for control
and specification. With the ever-growing number and variety of
rubber substitutes and special-purpose synthetics incorporated
in manufactured goods either singly or as blends, the problem
facing the rubber analyst has become increasingly complex and
well beyond the scope of conventional chemical methods. In
addition, analytical methods allowing study of polymer structure
should prove significant in the development of new polymers and
in the evaluation of polymerization techniques. Several investigators have recognized the advantages of employing a physical
means of investigation by which the various types of chemically
inert molecular structures in polymers may be studied without
changing their identities or proportions. Infrared methods have
been significant, for example, in exploring the mechanism of
polymer formation and in studying vulcanization and oxidation.
Considerably less has been done to develop infrared methods
into routine procedures for specification of rubber products. This
is undoubtedly due, in a large part, to the experimental difficulties encountered in spectroscopic examination of vulcanized and
reinforced rubbers. An attempt to overcome these difficulties
was made by Barnes and co-workers who developed a procedure for the analysis of natural-Buna-S blends in tread, carcass,
and tube stocks.
In the present study, the characterization of some selected
rubber materials viz., natural rubber (NR), and some synthetic
rubbers viz., styrene butadiene rubber (SBR), nitrile butadiene
rubber (NBR), ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM),
polyblends of natural rubber with NBR and with EPDM are
studied. They are analyzed in three states namely raw, gum and
reinforced by studying mechanical strength, tensile strength and
hardness. In this study, we attempt to develop a novel correlation between the microstructural features of the sample materials
with their macro level physico-mechanical properties.
3. Methods and materials
The compositions used in the present study were obtained
by using roll mill equipment, according to the formulations
presented in Table 1. The preparation techniques have been
described elsewhere [16]. The composites were vulcanized at
150 2 C under a pressure of about 40 kg/cm2 . The time of vulcanization was 20 min. The reinforced materials can be obtained
by mixing 50 parts filler (carbon black) to the vulcanized materials. The samples were in the form of slabs with thickness
about 2 0.5 mm is taken. The rubber master batch was compounded with the ingredients, for example, homogenizing agent,
activators, fillers, and accelerators, using the internal mixer.
The temperature of mixing was 363393 K. The curatives were
added on the two-roll mill to protect scorching of the compound.

S. Gunasekaran et al. / Spectrochimica Acta Part A 68 (2007) 323330

325

Table 1
Percentage of constituents to make reinforced sample materials
NR

SBR

NBR

EPDM

NR + NBR

NR + EPDM

Constituents

phr

Constituents

phr

Constituents

phr

Constituents

phr

Constituents

phr

Constituents

phr

NR (raw)

100

SBR (raw)

100

NBR (raw)

100

EPDM (raw)

100

NR (raw)
NBR (raw)

80
20

NR (raw)
EPDM (raw)

80
20

Zn O
Stearic acid
Sulfur
MBTS
TMTD
Carbon black

5
2
0.5
1.5
0.5
50

Zn O
Stearic acid
Sulfur
MBTS
TMTD
Carbon black

5
2
0.5
1.5
0.5
50

Zn O
Stearic acid
MBTS
TMTD
Sulfur
Carbon black

5
2
1.5
0.5
2.5
50

Zn O
Stearic acid
MBTS
TMTD
Sulfur
Carbon black

5
2
2
0.5
2.5
50

Zn O
Stearic acid
MBTS
TMTD
Sulfur
Carbon black

5
2
1.5
0.5
2.5
50

Zn O
Stearic acid
MBTS
TMTD
Sulfur
Carbon black

5
2
1.5
0.5
2.5
50

phr: parts hundred in rubber; MBTS: 2,2-dibenzothiazyl disulfide; TMTD: tetra methylthiuram disulfide; ZnO: zinc oxide.

3.1. FTIR spectral measurements

3.3. Hardness

FTIR spectroscopy is a powerful tool to monitor the vibrational energy levels in the region of different molecules. The
changes in chemical properties are usually followed by FTIR
spectroscopy which is a very sensitive and non-destructive
technique. Infrared spectroscopic analysis of various rubber
materials was carried out using Perkin Elmer professional computer using Idris software. FTIR spectra were recorded in the
range of 4504000 cm1 at room temperature. The resolution
is 4 cm1 and the number of scans to record IR spectra is 32.
For recording IR spectra, the rubber samples were cut into small
pieces. These were taken in a boiling tube and heated so as to
bring them to semi liquid state. A drop of the liquid was smeared
to form a transparent film between two circular NaCl disks. The
NaCl disks with the sample film were placed in the IR cell and
the spectra were recorded.

Hardness is a property of considerable importance, usually

included in rubber specifications along with the tensile properties. It may be defined as the resistance to indentation under
conditions that do not puncture the rubber. Although there is no
international standard for elastomers covering shore hardness,
here a bench hardness tester (Durometer) is used for measuring
hardness. In this instrument, the scale runs from 0 to 100. The
test piece should have its upper and lower surfaces flat, smooth
and parallel to one another. The hardness readings depend on
the dimension of the test piece, thickness being the most critical
dimension. The initial reading of a Durometer depends on the
rate of loading and the final reading depends on the duration
of loading, both because of creep in the rubber. Since different
materials have different creep characteristics, it is very important to precise that the rate of loading is standardized and the
duration of loading is specified.

3.2. Tensile strength measurements

To study the stressstrain behavior of rubber materials,
Instron universal tensile tester is used. For this purpose the sample materials were cut from molded sheets in the dumb bell
shape, which has tabbed ends for gripping in the test machine
and tapering to a central constricted section of uniform width.
The dumb bell shape of the rubber material with proper dimension is shown in Fig. 1. The sample material is placed in the
sample holder and its length, width and thickness are measured.
For every value of change in load, displacement is recorded by
the computer. In tensile testing machine, the stress is increased
slowly and then the elongation of the sample undergoes at each
stress level is measured the process keep doing this until the
sample breaks down.

Fig. 1. Dumb-bell shape of rubber samples.

4. Results and discussion

Longevity of a material is of prime importance apart from
quality as for as consumers are concerned. It is essential that
there is an authentic record elucidating and qualifying a variety
of industrial rubber materials based on which they can be chosen
for specific application. Spectroscopy is an extremely powerful
analytical technique for both qualitative and quantitative analysis. Infrared spectroscopy finds widespread application analysis
of organic compounds. Since even slight chemical modification
could be detected by IR spectroscopy even when combined with
derivatisation reactions, except the loss of peaks associated with
the catalyst and its solvent. Infrared spectrum is known to contain
information at the molecular level of the material i.e. microstructure. The microstructure is a representation of the characteristics
of the material, whether it is chemical or physico-mechanical.
It may be noted that breadth and shape of the infrared bands are
representation of the manner in which molecules relax from
the vibrationally excited state reach upon the absorption of
an (infrared) photon. The relaxation is known to be achieved
through intramolecular and intermolecular non-radiative pathways. These, in turn, could be considered as an indirect
representation of the mechanical properties of the material.

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Fig. 2. FTIR spectra of natural rubber.

FTIR spectra of raw, gum and cured natural rubber materials are given in Fig. 2. The spectra are very nearly identical
and serve to confirm the belief that the polymeric units are the
same for these three elastomers except for minor differences.
Some of the frequencies can be identified immediately on the
basis of the correlation rules and in some cases the bands are not
discreet because of lack in resolution. By analyzing the double
bond stretching and all of the CH valency vibrations, the strong
asymmetrical (as CH2 ) and symmetrical (s CH2 ) stretching of
methylene group vibrations present in NR are observed near
2950 and 2853 cm1 , respectively. This is supported by the
report of Arroyo et al. [2] They reported the CH asymmetric and
symmetric stretching vibrations during the comparative study of
unmodified and organically modified clay as substitute of carbon black in natural rubber. In spectra of all rubber materials,
which contain methyl groups show two distinct bands occurring
at around 2964 cm1 . The first band results from the asymmetrical stretching mode in which two CH bonds of methyl group
are extending while the third one is contracting. The second
band arises from symmetrical stretching in which all three of
the CH bonds extend and contract in phase. This is evidenced
by the report of Chaudhry and Billingham [17]. From the spectral
analysis of all rubber materials, it is observed that all elastomers
show methyl and methylene group vibrations and OH stretching
vibrations at 3470 cm1 which attributes to polymeric hydroxyl
compound irrespective of their compositions. It is very interesting to note that the band at 1076 cm1 is absent in all raw
materials whereas it is present in all gum and reinforced elastomers. This band is mainly attributed to the symmetric CSC
group stretching vibrations in the two CS bonds [18,19]. Since
during vulcanization the addition of sulfur breaks the double
bonds between the two carbon atoms and the sulfur atoms bridge
the gaps between the two chains i.e. they establish cross-links
between the chains. The spectral difference between gum and
reinforced materials is only in the rate of absorption.
In the case of natural rubber, the absorption is higher for reinforced material. Since for carbon black fillers, structure, particle
porosity and overall physico-chemical nature of particle surface

are the important factors in deciding cure rate and degree of reinforcement attainable. The term structure is used to represent
the clustering together and entanglement of fine carbon particles into long chains, thereby increasing the absorption [20].
The complete spectral identity of cured and uncured rubbers
is not inconsistent with current concepts of the vulcanization
process, which is considered to introduce comparatively few
cross-linkages in building the three-dimensional vulcanizates.
Since the infrared spectrum of a polymer is determined almost
entirely by the small recurring structural units and not by the
gross size or configuration, the net result of vulcanization, consisting mainly of changes which involve relatively few of the
recurring polymer units, does not alter the rubber spectrum to
any appreciable extent. Only two minor differences between the
spectra of gums and their vulcanizates were noticed. In general,
oxidation during vulcanization produces hydroxyl absorption
and carbonyl absorption. These extra bands do not interfere,
however, with any bands useful for analysis. A more consistent difference is the poorer definition of bands themselves and
the increased background absorption of most cured rubber. This
effect has been observed in homologous series of simple hydrocarbons and is consistent with the increased molecular weight of
the vulcanizates. This absorption was not reproducible for different rubber derivatives and serious only in natural vulcanizates.
The fact that the spectra of the various elastomers, when obtained
by the procedures described, are unique and experimentally
reproducible regardless of the past history of the sample constitutes a sound basis for characterization of the elastomer content
of commercial rubber products. The individual elastomers are
identified by the respective absorptions.
In the spectra of SBR shown in Fig. 3, the bands at 756
and 704 cm1 ascribed to the out of plane bending vibrations
of aromatic CH and C C groups of polystyrene in SBR and
the bands at 990 and 902 cm1 attributed to the out of plane
bending vibrations of CH of vinyl groups and the band at
960 cm1 attributed to the trans CH CH group vibrations
of butadiene present in SBR. This is evidenced by the report
given by Fernandez-Berridi et al. [23] in the study of pyrolysis
of SBR. While in the spectra of NBR given in Fig. 4, the band at
2230 cm1 ascribed to alkyl C N stretching vibrations of acrylonitrile present in NBR and the band at 960 cm1 is due to the
CH wagging motion vibrations of butadiene.

Fig. 3. FTIR spectra of SBR.

S. Gunasekaran et al. / Spectrochimica Acta Part A 68 (2007) 323330

Fig. 4. FTIR spectra of NBR.

Analysis of spectra of EPDM shown in Fig. 5, shows that

bands around 1461 and 1376 cm1 are assigned to CH2 scissoring vibrations and CH bending vibrations of CH3 from the
propylene unit, respectively. The band at 722 cm1 is typical
of (CH2 )n where n 5, for CH2 rocking vibrations due to
the presence of sequences of ethylene in the EPDM backbone.
This is evidenced by Kumutha and Alias [22] report and Sruanganurak et al. [1] report in which the FTIR studies of EPDM
carried out. Also Mitra et al. [21] reported that the peaks at
2926 and 2856 cm1 are typical of EPDM rubber arising from
the saturated hydrocarbon backbone of aliphatic alkyl symmetric/asymmetric CH stretching vibration. Hence we found that
EPDM backbone is found to be stable under the studied chemical degradation environment. To enhance the quality of rubber,
an attempt is made to blend two rubber derivatives.
FTIR spectral studies very well can explain the compatibility
of blends. The spectra of polyblends of NR with NBR in vulcanized and reinforced states are shown in Fig. 6. The band at
960 cm1 attributed to the CH wagging vibrations of butadiene
present in NBR are observed in addition to the functional groups
present in NR. This shows the compatibility of polyblends. From
this spectral analysis, it is observed that NBR plays a dominant
role since methyl absorption is greater for gum state which is
the case for NBR. While in the case of NR with EPDM given in
Fig. 7, there is a good compatibility for reinforced elastomers. In
this spectrum, it is observed that the functional groups arise from
ethylene, propylene, ENB and the identities of NR present. The
spectra of gum and reinforced blends are nearly identical. The
only difference is in their rate of absorption. The absorption is
greater for reinforced materials while it is lesser for vulcanizate

Fig. 5. FTIR spectra of EPDM.

327

Fig. 6. FTIR spectra of NR with NBR.

blends. Kiatkamjornwong and Pairpisit [24] reported the studies

on compatibility of the blend of NR and EPDM. They studied the
composition and behavior of natural rubber (NR) and ethylene
propylene diene monomer (EPDM) blends at various carbon
black concentrations (030 phr) in terms of electrical resistivity, dielectric breakdown voltage testing and physical properties.
The blends having electrical properties suitable for application in
high-insulation iron cross arms were selected for investigation
of compatibility and increased physical properties. They also
examined mechanical properties such as tensile strength, tear
strength, elongation at break and hardness. The results are correlated with the results of the present work. Also they reported that
a carbon black content as high as 10 phr is suitable for the insulation coating material, which can withstand electrical voltage at
10 kVac . They reported that addition of the homogenizing agent
at 5 phr can improve the mechanical compatibility of blends
and the ratio of NR/EPDM in the blend to best resist the ozone
gas is 80/20 with the addition of silica of 30 phr into the blend.
They found that the synergistic effect of silica content and high
NR content 80 in 20 phr EPDM could improve antioxidation by
ozone in the absence of a normal antioxidant for natural rubber.
The mechanical strength of these rubber materials have been
analyzed by calculating the internal ratio parameters (IRP)
among the methyl and methylene group vibrational frequencies
obtained from FTIR spectroscopy given in Table 2. These internal ratio parameters have been used as a measure for variations
in CH3 content of polythenes. It is fairly constant for all rubber
derivatives. It should be mentioned that saturation of the double
bond mostly leads to an increase in this ratio above 1. As the
number of methylene group is actually increased by action of

Fig. 7. FTIR spectra of NR with EPDM.

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S. Gunasekaran et al. / Spectrochimica Acta Part A 68 (2007) 323330

Table 2
Internal ratio parameters (IRP) among the methyl and methylene group vibrations of rubber samples
Sample materials

R1 = A2964 /A2950

R2 = A2853 /A2864

R3 = A2950 /A2964

R4 = A2853 /A2950

R5 = A2864 /A2964

Quality of rubber

NR: raw
NR: gum
NR: reinforced
SBR: raw
SBR: gum
SBR: reinforced
NBR: raw
NBR: gum
NBR: reinforced
EPDM: raw
EPDM: gum
EPDM: reinforced
NR + NBR: gum
NR + NBR: reinforced
NR + EPDM: gum
NR + EPDM: reinforced

0.9420
0.9466
0.9568
0.9095
0.9226
0.9292
0.9205
0.9247
0.9361
0.9385
0.9391
0.9481
0.9217
0.9279
0.9296
0.9635

0.9748
0.9786
0.9792
0.9739
0.9740
0.9921
0.9685
0.9771
0.9818
0.9736
0.9740
0.9812
0.9719
0.9729
0.9730
0.9756

0.9612
0.9622
0.9714
0.9700
0.9753
0.9755
0.9618
0.9695
0.9725
0.9552
0.9578
0.9643
0.9556
0.9615
0.9646
0.9695

0.9838
0.9649
0.9598
0.9740
0.9628
0.9430
0.9751
0.9691
0.9536
0.9697
0.9674
0.9646
0.9654
0.9605
0.9597
0.9557

0.9700
0.9488
0.9522
0.9701
0.9628
0.9282
0.9683
0.9615
0.9446
0.9524
0.9514
0.9478
0.9493
0.9493
0.9515
0.9498

Normal
Normal
Normal
Normal
Normal
Good
Normal
Normal
Normal
Normal
Normal
Normal
Normal
Normal
Normal
Normal

A denotes the absorbance of the vibrational frequencies.

hydrogen or of hydrogen halide to the double bond, the change in

the ratio is opposite to the one expected. It indicates that the absolute intensity of the methyl group absorption band is influenced
by the structure of the molecular unit. The qualitative analysis
show that reinforced SBR material is found to have the greatest
absorbance value of 0.992 while for all the other rubber materials the absorbance ratio is less than this value. The mechanical
strength obtained from FTIR spectroscopy is correlated with
tensile measurements carried out by standard methods.
The mechanical properties of polymer-based materials, such
as toughness, impact strength, elongation at break, etc., determine their potential applications by their stressstrain behavior.
The measurement of tensile strength and Elongation are given
in Table 3. From the stressstrain relation curve for NR shown
in Fig. 8, it is observed that the displacement at maximum load
for gum state is 79.61 mm while for reinforced elastomer it is
159.22 mm. The tensile strength at maximum load is 1.19 MPa
for gum state and 13.6 MPa for reinforced material. Since in
the reinforced state, the clustering together and entanglement
of fine carbon particles into long chains occur. This is the reason for higher tensile strength. The surface area of a carbon

black is important and defines how much surface is available

for interactions with other materials present in a rubber compound. Generally, a small particle size black will have a high
surface area, but the nature of the surface can also influence
the surface area. The tensile strength of SBR material shown
in Fig. 9 in gum state is 1.205 and 23.97 MPa for reinforced
SBR. The good mechanical strength of reinforced SBR material
obtained from FTIR spectral studies is supported by the tensile
strength resulted by ASTM. From the analysis of stressstrain
curve given in Figs. 10 and 11, it is observed that the reinforced
material got more tensile strength than gum state. Whereas in
case of polyblend of NR with NBR reinforced material given
in Fig. 12, the percentage of strain at maximum load is very
much high 758.6. Hence they found to have comparatively
lesser tensile strength. Tensile strength of polyblend of NR with
EPDM given in Fig. 13 is good agreement with the previously
reported values by Kiatkamjornwong and Pairpisit [24]. They
reported the composition and behavior of natural rubber (NR)
and ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) blends at various carbon black concentrations (030 phr) in terms of electrical

Fig. 8. Stressstrain curve of natural rubber.

Fig. 9. Stressstrain curve of SBR.

S. Gunasekaran et al. / Spectrochimica Acta Part A 68 (2007) 323330

329

Table 3
Tensile strength and elongation for rubber sample materials
S. no.

Samples

Load at
maximum
load (kN)

Displacement
at maximum
load (mm)

Load/width at
maximum
load (N/mm)

Stress at
maximum
load (MPa)

Elongation at
maximum
load (%)

Tensile strength at
maximum load
(MPa)

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.

NR: gum
NR: reinforced
SBR: gum
SBR: reinforced
NBR: gum
NBR: reinforced
EPDM: gum
EPDM: reinforced
NR + NBR: gum
NR + NBR: reinforced
NR + EPDM: gum
NR + EPDM: reinforced

0.014
0.021
0.018
0.158
0.021
0.097
0.018
0.146
0.056
0.114
0.014
0.059

79.610
159.220
75.740
334.600
92.100
149.900
34.400
124.800
260.600
379.300
170.300
200.900

2.380
26.537
3.013
52.733
3.490
16.125
2.953
24.400
18.783
18.933
4.500
9.758

1.190
13.600
1.205
23.970
1.424
6.582
1.136
11.619
9.163
9.467
2.093
4.243

159.220
392.000
151.480
669.200
184.200
299.800
68.800
249.600
521.200
758.600
340.600
401.800

1.190
13.600
1.205
23.970
1.424
6.582
1.136
11.619
9.163
9.467
2.093
4.243

Fig. 12. Stressstrain curve of NR with EPDM.

resistivity, dielectric breakdown voltage testing and physical

properties. They also reported that the ratio of NR/EPDM in
the blend to best resist the ozone gas is (80/20) and reported
the mechanical properties such as tensile strength, tear strength,
elongation at break and hardness. Analysis of tensile strength
measurements show that all reinforced material are found to

have higher tensile strength compared to their respective gum

elastomers.
Hardness is not a reliable measure of stiffness. Hardness
measurements derive from small deformations at the surface,
whereas stiffness measurements such as measurement of tensile modulus derive from large deformations of entire mass.
Unlike with metals, there is no correlation between hardness
and tensile strength of elastomers. As the hardness increases,
the tensile strength of an elastomer may increase to a maximum
then decrease, or it may decrease from the beginning, depending on the formulation of the compound. From Table 4, it is
observed that all reinforced states show better hardness compar-

Fig. 11. Stressstrain curve of EPDM.

Fig. 13. Stressstrain curve of NR with NBR.

Fig. 10. Stressstrain curve of NBR.

330

S. Gunasekaran et al. / Spectrochimica Acta Part A 68 (2007) 323330

Table 4
Hardness of rubber samples
S. no.

Sample

Hardness shore A

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15
16

NR: raw
NR: gum
NR: reinforced
NBR: raw
NBR: gum
NBR: reinforced
SBR: raw
SBR: gum
SBR: reinforced
EPDM: raw
EPDM: gum
EPDM: reinforced
NR + NBR: gum
NR + NBR: reinforced
NR + EPDM: gum
NR + EPDM: reinforced

40
44
63
35
49
62
20
48
53
36
54
70
43
55
40
43

ing with gum and raw states due to carbon filler added to the
sample. Hardness of EPDM reinforced material is 70. While it
gets decreased when it is blended with NR. In spite of reinforced
NR material has hardness as 60 and for EPDM 70, the polyblend
of this material in both gum and reinforced state are 40 and 43,
respectively, these values are in good agreement with the values
reported by Kiatkamjornwong and Pairpisit [24].
5. Conclusion
From the present study of rubber elastomers viz., NR, SBR,
NBR, EPDM in raw, gum and reinforced and polyblends of NR
with NBR and EPDM, we report a novel approach for the evaluation of various physico-mechanical properties by analyzing
the mechanical strength from FTIR spectral measurements and
tensile strength by ASTM. The results obtained by IR-based
method and standard methods for quality control purpose have
been found to be in good agreement. The quality of rubber materials can be enhanced for specific applications by blending of two
rubber elastomers. From the present study, we conclude that

there is good compatibility between NR and EPDM and NR

and NBR by analyzing their FTIR spectral studies and tensile
strength measurements.
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