Dual‐Responsive Self‐Healable Carboxylated Acrylonitrile Butadiene Rubber Based on Dynamic Diels–Alder “Click Chemistry” and Disulfide Metathesis Reaction

Abstract

AbstractIntroduction of the self‐healing property in the commercially available elastomers promotes the development of high‐end elastomeric products with an extended lifespan. Herein, a smart functionalized carboxylated nitrile rubber (XNBR) is prepared based on dynamic phototriggered disulfide metathesis and thermoreversible Diels–Alder (DA) “click chemistry.” In this case, the XNBR is functionalized with furfuryl amine (FA) followed by crosslinking with a dual functional crosslinker having a maleimide as well as a disulfide functionality for participating in the DA reaction and to induce the UV‐triggered disulfide metathesis reaction, respectively. The self‐healing properties are studied by thermal, mechanical, and microscopy analyses. The crosslinked materials present an impressive self‐healing efficiency of ≈88% and a tensile strength of ≈10 MPa without affecting its oil‐resistance property whereas pristine XNBR and furfuryl‐functionalized XNBR (FXNBR) show tensile strengths only 0.4 and 0.6 MPa, respectively. Furthermore, the crosslinked rubber is demonstrated to be recyclable, without much loss of its mechanical properties. In a nutshell, the use of this smart dual pathway of self‐healing can pave a new direction in sustainable development in NBR elastomers.