Oxidation of natural rubber-based magnetorheological elastomers

The theological properties of magnetorheological (MR) materials can be changed continuously, rapidly and reversibly by an applied magnetic field. Solid MR materials consist of magnetically polarisable particles, generally iron, in an elastomer matrix. The high iron concentrations required (about 30% by volume) in order to get a substantial magnetorheological effect should influence the long-term stability of the materials. In this paper, the oxidative stability of natural rubber-based magnetorheological elastomers has been studied by chemiluminescence and oven ageing. The results show that the oxidative stability of natural rubber decreases dramatically when large amounts of iron particles are incorporated in the matrix. This is probably due to the large amounts of oxygen on the surface of the particles. Conventional antioxidants can be used to prolong the lifetime of magnetorheological elastomers, but in order to get acceptable lifetime of the materials a careful selection of the antioxidant system has to be made. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.