Damping properties and micro-morphology of textile waste rubber powder-AO 2246 composites

A series of TWRP-AO 2246 composites consisting of textile waste rubber powder (TWRP), 2, 2-methylene-bis-(4-methyl-6-tert-butyl-phenol) (AO 2246) was fabricated. The damping property of composites was tested by dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMA); the morphology was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM); the composites’ structure was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR); and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was investigated. DMA results showed that TWRP-AO 2246 composites appeared in only one damping peak when AO 2246 content was less than 30%, and the tan δ peak value as well as its corresponding temperature increased gradually with increasing AO 2246 content. However, a novel damping peak appeared far away the glass-transition temperature peak of composite with 40% AO 2246 concentration, and a great damping platform was constructed between double peaks with a wide temperature range spanning more than 100℃, which is attributed to the dissociation of intermolecular hydrogen bonds in AO 2246 enriched phase and thus realized phase separation. Meanwhile, the presence of intermolecular hydrogen bonds in the composite was confirmed by FTIR. Thus, a new type of high performance damping composite with TWRP as a matrix was developed.