Improvement in mechanical properties of NBR/LiClO4/POSS nanocomposites by constructing a novel network structure

The mechanical properties and the possible micro-structure of nitrile-butadiene rubber/lithium perchlorate/polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (NBR/LiClO4/POSS) nanocomposites have been investigated thoroughly. The interactions among Li+ cations, CN groups and COC groups bring in a novel network structure consisting of several kinds of effective crosslinks, causing an increase in the glass transition temperature of POSS, as well as in the crosslink contribution (Gc) and the constraint contribution (Ge), which facilitates strong interface cohesion between POSS and NBR matrix and a well dispersion of POSS. The addition of POSS not only increases the crosslinking density of NBR/LiClO4/POSS nanocomposites, but also improves the 300% modulus and tensile strength greatly. Therefore, a possible micro-structure has been proposed to express the experimental observation.