Fabricating high-performance damping rubber by blending nitrile rubber with epoxidized eucommia ulmoides gum

Abstract This study proposes an innovative strategy for enhancing the damping properties of nitrile rubber (NBR) through the incorporation of highly epoxidized Eucommia ulmoides gum (EEUG). The introduced epoxy groups strongly interact with the molecular chains of NBR via polar interactions, significantly improving energy dissipation and damping performance. Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) demonstrates that increasing the epoxidation degree of EEUG leads to a notable rise in the tan δ peak value, reaching up to 1.855. Moreover, the damping peak temperature shifts markedly toward room temperature, effectively broadening the service temperature range of the material. The resulting NBR/EEUG composites exhibit high damping capacity over a wide temperature range while retaining excellent elasticity, providing a feasible approach for designing advanced environmentally adaptive damping materials.