Cross-linking of carboxylated nitrile rubbers by means of cross-linking systems containing resol

1. Vulcanizable compositions comprising:

(1) 100 parts by weight of a nitrile rubber having repeating units of at least one conjugated diene, at least one α,β-unsaturated nitrile, and at least one copolymerizable termonomer containing carboxyl group(s),

(2) 1 to 50 parts by weight of at least one resol of the genera formula (II)

in which

R a is H, —CH 3 , —CH 2 OH, or —CH 2 Br,

R b is —CH 2 OH or —CH 2 Br,

R c is a straight-chain or branched C 1 -C 15 -alkyl radical, and

n and m are the same or different and are each integers of 0 to 25, and

(3) one of:

(3a) 20 to 100 parts by weight of at least one silicatic filler and 1 to 20% by weight, based on the weight of the silicatic filer, of at least one silane of the general formula (I)

in which:

R 1 , R 2 and R 3 are the same or different and are each straight-chain or branched C 1 -C 25 -alkyl radicals or R 4 —C(═O)— where R 4 is straight-chain or branched C 1 -C 25 -alkyl, and

R 4 represents straight-chain or branched C 1 -C 14 -alkyl radicals being saturated, or one or more times unsaturated and having no, one, two or more substituents selected from vinyl, —SH, substituted or unsubstituted phenyl, methacryloyloxy and isocyanato, or is —R 5 —(S) x —R 5 —Si(OR 1 )(OR 2 )(OR 3 ) in which R 1 , R 2 and R 3 are the same or different and are each as defined in formula (I), wherein R 5 is a straight-chain or branched C 1 -C 14 -alkylene radical and x is a number from 1 to 8, and

(3b) 20 to 125 parts by weight of a silicatic filer modified with a silane.

2. The vulcanizable compositions according to claim 1 , wherein the nitrile rubber comprises repeating units of at least one (C 4 -C 6 ) conjugated diene, and repeating units of at least one (C 3 -C 5 )-α,β-unsaturated nitrile.

3. The vulcanizable compositions according to claim 1 , wherein the carboxyl groups are selected from the group consisting of the α,β-unsaturated monocarboxylic acids, α,β-unsaturated dicarboxylic acids, anhydrides of α,β-unsaturated dicarboxylic acids, and monoesters of α,β-unsaturated dicarboxylic acids.

4. The vulcanizable compositions according to claim 1 , wherein

at least a portion of R a and/or R b is CH 2 OH, and

at least a portion of R a and/or R b is —CH 2 Br,

such that the resols contain 4-20% by weight of the hydroxymethyl groups and 4-5 wt % bromine, based on the total weight of the resol.

5. The vulcanizable compositions according to claim 1 , wherein:

R a is H or —CH 2 OH,

R b is —CH 2 OH,

R c is a straight-chain or branched C 4 -C 8 -alkyl radical, and

n and m are the same or different and are each integers of 0 to 15, and

the resol contains 4-20% by weight of the hydroxymethyl groups based on the total weight of the resol.

6. The vulcanizable compositions according to claim 1 , wherein the silicatic filers comprise natural silicates, synthetic silicates, silicas, glass fibres, glass fibre products, or glass microbeads.

7. The vulcanizable compositions according to claim 1 , wherein the silicatic fillers comprise precipitated or fumed silicas whose specific BET surface area to ISO 9277 is 5 to 1000 m 2 /g.

8. The vulcanizable compositions according to claim 1 , wherein:

R 1 , R 2 and R 3 are the same or different and are each straight-chain or branched C 1 -C 8 -alkyl radicals, or R 4 —C(═O)— where R 4 is a straight-chain or branched C 1 -C 10 -alkyl radical,

R 4 represents straight-chain or branched C 1 -C 10 -alkyl radicals being each saturated, or one or more times unsaturated and having no, one, two or more substituents selected from vinyl, —SH, substituted or unsubstituted phenyl, methacryloyloxy and isocyanato, or —R 5 —(S) x —R 5 —Si(OR 1 )(OR 2 )(OR 3 ) in which R 1 , R 2 and R 3 are the same or different and are each as defined in formula (I), wherein R 5 is a straight-chain or branched C 1 -C 5 -alkylene radical and x is a number from 1 to 8, and

the silicatic filer modified with a silane comprises a silicatic filler already modified with a silane of the general formula (I) in which R 1 , R 2 , R 3 and R 4 are each defined as specified.

9. The vulcanizable compositions according to claim 1 , wherein the silane comprises at least one silane selected from the group of octyltriethoxysilane, vinyltriethoxysilane and bis(triethoxysilylpropyl) oligosulphides.

10. The vulcanizable compositions according to claim 1 , additionally comprising

(4) one or more further polymers selected from the group consisting of rubbers, nitrile rubber, hydrogenated nitrile rubber, ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer, ethylene-propylene-diene monomer rubber, ethylene-acrylate rubber, acrylate rubbers, fluoro rubbers, chloroprene rubbers, chlorinated polyethylene (CM), thermoplastic, polyamides, polyimides, polyethers, polyesters, polyphenylene sulphide (PPS), and polycarbonates, and any mixtures thereof.

11. The vulcanizable compositions according to claim 1 , additionally comprising

(5) halogen-containing compounds in amounts of 5-10 parts by weight per 100 parts by weight of component (1), and

(6) no, one, or more than one further rubber additive.

12. A process for preparing the vulcanizable compositions according to claim 1 , the process comprising mixing components (1), (2) and (3), and optionally any of:

component (4) one or more further polymers selected from the group consisting of rubbers, nitrile rubber, hydrogenated nitrile rubber, ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer, ethylene-propylene-diene monomer rubber, ethylene-acrylate rubber, acylate rubbers, fluoro rubbers, chloroprene rubbers, chlorinated polyethylene (CM), thermoplastics, polyamides, polyimides, polyesters, polyesters, polyphenylene sulphide (PPS), and polycarbonate, and any mixtures thereof,

component (5) halogen-containing compounds in amounts of 5-10 parts by weight per 100 parts by weight of component (1), and

component (6) no, one, or more than one further rubber additive.

13. A process for producing vulcanizates from compositions according to claim 1 , the process comprising subjecting the vulcanizable compostions according to claim 1 to vulcanization.

14. The process according to claim 13 , wherein the vulcanization is done at a vulcanization temperature of 120° C. to 200° C.

15. The vulcanizable compositions according to claim 1 , wherein:

the nitrile rubber comprises repeating units of at least one (C 4 -C 6 ) conjugated diene selected from the group consisting of 1,2-butadiene, 1,3-butadiene, isoprene, 2,3-dimethylbutadiene, piperylene, or mixtures thereof, and at least one (C 3 -C 5 )-α,β-unsaturated nitrile selected from the group consisting of acrylonitrile, methacrylonitrile, ethacrylonitrile or mixtures thereof;

the silicatic filers comprise kaolin, talc, aluminium silicates, magnesium silicate, calcium silicate, monosilicic acid or the more water-deficient condensates thereof, glass fibres, glass fibre products, or glass microbeads,

R 1 , R 2 and R 3 are the same or different and are each methyl, ethyl, n-propyl or iso-propyl, or R 4 —C(═O)— where R 4 is a straight-chain or branched C 1 -C 8 -alkyl radical;

R 4 is a straight-chain or branched C 1 -C 8 -alkyl radical being each saturated, or one or more times unsaturated and having no, one, two or more substituents selected from vinyl, —SH, substituted or unsubstituted phenyl, methacryloyloxy and isocyanato, or —R 5 —(S) x —R 5 —Si(OR 1 )(OR 2 )(OR 3 ) in which R 1 , R 2 and R 3 are the same or different and are each as defined in formula (I), wherein R 5 is a straight-chain or branched C 1 -C 3 -alkylene radical and x is a number from 2 to 5; and

the composition comprises:

100 parts by weight of the nitrile rubber,

3 to 15 parts by weight of the at least one resol, and

20 to 60 parts by weight of the at least one silicatic filler and 2 to 18% by weight, based on the weight of the silicatic filler, of the at least one silane.

16. A vulcanizable composition comprising:

100 parts by weight of a carboxylated nitrile rubber,

1 to 50 parts by weight of a resol of the general formula (II)

in which

R a is H, —CH 3 , —CH 2 OH or —CH 2 Br,

R b is —CH 2 OH or —CH 2 Br,

R c is a straight-chain or branched C 1 -C 15 -alkyl radical, and

n and m are the same or different and are each integers of 0 to 25,

such that the resols contain 4-20% by weight of the hydroxymethyl groups and 4-5 wt % bromine, based on the total weight of the resol,

20 to 100 parts by weight of an inorganic silicatic filer, and

an organosilane that is unreactive towards the resol, wherein an amount of organosilane is 1 to 20% by weight based on the weight of the silicatic filler.

17. The composition according to claim 16 , wherein:

the organosilane comprises a compound of the formula (I)

in which

R 1 , R 2 and R 3 are the same or different and we each straight-chain or branched C 1 -C 25 -alkyl radicals or R 4 —C(═O)— where R 4 is straight-chain or branched C 1 -C 25 -alkyl, and

R 4 represents straight-chain or branched C 1 -C 14 -alkyl radicals being saturated, or one or more times unsaturated and having no, one, two or more substituents selected from vinyl, —SH, substituted or unsubstituted phenyl, methacryloyloxy and isocyanato, or is —R 5 —(S) x —R 5 —Si(OR 1 )(OR 2 )(OR 3 ) in which R 1 , R 2 and R 3 are the same or different and are each as defined in formula (I), R 5 is a straight-chain or branched C 1 -C 14 -alkylene radical and x is a number from 1 to 8; and

R a is H, —CH 3 , —CH 2 OH or —CH 2 Br,

R b is —CH 2 OH or —CH 2 Br,

R c is tert-octyl radical or tert-butyl radical, and

n and m are the sane or different and are each integers of 0 to 15.

18. The composition according to claim 17 , wherein:

the carboxylated nitrile rubber comprises:

40 to 89.9% by weight of repeating units of at least one conjugated diene,

10 to 59.9% by weight of repeating units of at least one α,β-unsaturated nitrile, and

0.1 to 20% by weight of repeating units of at least one copolymerizable termonomer containing carboxyl group(s); and

the silicatic fillers comprise natural silicates, synthetic silicates, silicas, glass fibres, glass fibre products, or glass microbeads.