Dielectric Relaxation Spectroscopy in Synthetic Rubber Polymers: Nitrile Butadiene Rubber and Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer

The dielectric permittivity of synthetic rubber polymers, nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR) and ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM), with both frequency and temperature variations, was thoroughly investigated by dielectric relaxation spectroscopy (DRS). The spectrum versus frequency of DRS was analyzed with the semiempirical Havriliak-Negami formula and conductivity contribution by employing the newly developed "dispersion analyzer" analysis program. The main dielectric relaxations called the alpha- and beta-processes, associated with the cooperative motion of chains in polymers, were discovered in the low-temperature region. In the high-temperature region, we found Maxwell-Wagner-Sillars (MWS) relaxation associated with polymer interfacing and normal-mode (alpha') relaxation responsible for end-to-end dipole vector motion. The activation energies of schematic molecular chains responsible for the relaxation processes were obtained with the information about its motional mode. The glass transition temperature and dipole moment for the side group were also determined and compared with those from previous studies. In the EPDM specimen, the peaks of alpha- and beta-relaxation merged at high temperature and were separated with decreasing temperature. The first observations of both merging and splitting were consistent with the results on the temperature dependency of the relaxation strength. Both contour mapping and three-dimensional plots for the two rubbers provide visual information for the distribution and mapping of relaxation.