Improving Thermal Properties of Fluoroelastomer Using Carbon Nanotubes in Presence of Air and under Nitrogen Flow

Viton is a synthetic rubber and a fluoroelastomer (FE). Viton® GF-600S is a terpolymer of hexafluoro-propylene, vinylidene fluoride and tetra-fluoroethylene with a cure site monomer. It is a peroxide cure and 70 % fluorine fluoroelastomer. Normally, in the formulation of fluoroelastomer, carbon black is used. Replacing carbon black with carbon nanotube partially or totally is expected to improve properties of fluoroelastomer which are important in making O-rings, especially for oil and gas industries. The thermal decomposition properties of fluoroelastomers and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) have been examined by Lee. Heating rates of 2°-30 °C/min under a static air atmosphere were employed for the experiments. The decomposition of fluoroelastomers occurs from 400° to 500 °C and PTFE decomposed at a higher temperature (500° to 600°C). The activation energies of decomposition, for the two fluoroelastomers and fluorocarbon resin, ranged from 225 to 266 kJ mol. The surface morphology of the fluoropolymers after a heat-treatment procedure shows that there were no changes in the morphology when the heat-treatment temperature was under 400 °C for 10 min. However, both fluoropolymers decomposed when the heat-treatment temperature was 500 °C for 10 min. Improving Thermal Properties of Fluoroelastomer Using Carbon Nanotubes in Presence of Air and Under Nitrogen Flow