Butyl Rubber-Based Composite: Thermal Degradation and Prediction of Service Life Time 

Butyl rubber-based composite (BRC) is one of the most popular materials for the fabrication of protective glove against chemical and mechanical risks. However, in many working places such as metal manufacturing or automotive mechanical services, its mechanical hazards usually appear together with metalworking fluids (MWFs). The presence of these contaminants, particularly at high temperature, could modify its properties due to the scission, the plasticization, the crosslinking of polymer network and thus led to severe modification of mechanical and physicochemical properties of material. This work aims to determine the effect of temperature and a metalworking fluid on mechanical behavior of butyl rubber composite dealing with crosslinking density, cohesion forces and elastic constant of BRC on the based on Mooney-Rivlin’s theory. The effect of temperature with and without MWFs on thermo dynamical properties and morphology of butyl membranes is also investigated. The prediction of service lifetime is then evaluated from extrapolation of Arrhenius plot at different temperatures.