OXIDATIVE STRESS RELAXATION OF NATURAL RUBBER GUM VULCANIZATES CONTAINING VARIOUS ANTIOXIDANTS. I: EFFECT OF SAMPLE THICKNESS

Abstract

ABSTRACT Conventional sulfur-vulcanized natural rubber gums containing various antioxidants have been subjected to oxidative stress relaxation at 72 °C and 25% strain. Oxidation is diffusion controlled, even for samples as thin as 0.15 mm. Assuming that the rate of chain scission is proportional to the rate of oxygen absorption, which previously has been shown to depend on the square root of the oxygen concentration, an equation is derived predicting that stress decay is proportional to aging time to the three-quarters power. Moreover, slopes of these plots are predicted to depend inversely on thickness. Experimental results are in reasonable accord with these predictions.