Effects of fillers on the hydrogen uptake and volume expansion of acrylonitrile butadiene rubber composites exposed to high pressure hydrogen: -Property of polymeric materials for high pressure hydrogen devices (3)-

To develop sealing materials for high-pressure hydrogen devices, the effects of filler type and amount on the hydrogen uptake and volume expansion of rubber composites were evaluated up to 90 MPa. The amount of hydrogen in the rubber matrix and carbon black was elucidated using nuclear magnetic resonance, and the hydrogen elimination behavior of the composites was analyzed by thermal desorption analyses. As hydrogen physically adsorbed on carbon black, the hydrogen uptake of carbon black-filled composites increased. The hydrogen uptake of the composites filled with nonabsorbent silica was smaller, depending on the weight fraction of silica. The ratio of volume expansion to the amount of hydrogen in the matrix of carbon black-filled composites was suppressed by the reinforcement effect of carbon black, which did not expand with hydrogen uptake. The suppression of silica-filled composites was limited by the volume fraction of silica.