Infrared Spectra of Cured and Uncured Rubbers

The newest physical-chemical methods of research enlarge the scope of study of the vulcanization process. There is a possibility of studying the structure changes during vulcanization of rubber by the application of infrared spectroscopy. Infrared rays are selectively absorbed. Therefore the infrared absorption spectrum can be used as a characteristic property of a substance and could be used for analytical purposes. The large spectral range of the infrared rays indicates their importance for the study of the properties and structure of substances; this makes possible the determination of the moments of inertia of atomic nuclei and molecules, isotopic mass, arrangement and strength of atomic bonds in the molecule and the frequencies of their vibrations. By knowing the frequencies for pure substances, molecular analyses of complicated mixtures of various organic rubbers, accelerators and other substances could be performed. The study of linear absorption spectra is the basis of the spectrographic method in the infrared region. Since the frequencies of near infrared radiation correspond to the characteristic frequencies of the atoms in the molecules, this method could be used to obtain interesting information concerning the structure of organic molecules, the chemical structure of high molecular weight compounds, the determination of the presence of specific groups or atoms in the rubber molecule, the character of the bonds between these groups and the order of arrangement of the individual chain links. This is true because the position of the absorption bands, which are specific for a given group of atoms, is practically the same for the different combinations in which the group occurs. The complicated process of polymerization of diene and vinyl compounds and the structure of different types of rubbers can be investigated with the aid of infrared spectroscopy. For example, Table I lists the characteristic absorption frequencies in the infrared region for some important chemical combinations.