Fluorine-Terminated Liquid Polybutadiene: A Novel Approach to Enhancing Oil Resistance and Thermal Stability in Natural Rubber

Natural rubber (NR) has long been plagued by inferior oil resistance and poor thermal degradation at high temperatures. Despite these limitations, NR remains the most widely used elastomer to date. Fluorine-containing compounds have demonstrated excellent oil resistance and thermal stability. However, they generally exhibit poor compatibility with non-polar polymers. After blending, macroscopic phase separation cannot be easily suppressed, leading to the deterioration of the material's properties. In this study, fluorination modification was performed using hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene, and the resulting fluorine-modified polybutadiene (3F-PBu-3F) was incorporated into natural rubber. Following sulfur curing, homogeneous phase morphologies were observed in all vulcanizates, which significantly differed from those of previously reported NR/polybutadiene vulcanizates. Additionally, the oil resistance and thermal stability of the NR/3F-PBu-3F vulcanizates were effectively enhanced.