Correlation between (nano)-mechanical and chemical changes occurring during photo-oxidation of filled vulcanised styrene butadiene rubber (SBR)

Moreover, during irradiation, the mechanical properties were followed at low and high degree of deformation by means of dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) and tensile test until break, respectively. We demonstrate that the physico-chemical properties of the oxidised layer which represents 20 μm of the 600 μm of the material can explain the loss of mechanical properties for both composites based on vulcanised SBR and SBR/TiO2 during irradiation at λ > 290 nm. We also demonstrate a different mechanical behaviour in presence of TiO2 compared to neat SBR that could be due to a competition between formation of photo-products and the filler-rubber debonding during photo-oxidation.