• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2015

Polybutadiene rubber (BR) has been well known that its physical and chemical properties are changed when it is exposed to ultraviolet light undergoing photooxidation. In this study, photooxdiation process of BR vulcanizate was investigated using a high pressure mercury lamp used as an outdoor lighting, which has high UV radiation efficiency and reasonable cost. Discoloration and crack formation of photooxdized BR vulcanite surface were examined using an image analyzer. Change of chemical functional groups of BR vulcanite surface by photooxidation was investigated using ATR-FTIR, and variation of the crosslink density with the UV irradiation time was investigated. By increasing the UV irradiation time, the crosslink density steeply increased after a period of time and did not increase any more. Formation of hydroxyl (~OH) and carbonyl (~C=O) groups on the BR vulcanizate surface increased and the1,4-cis unit was converted to the 1,4-trans unit as the photooxidation was proceeded.