Reasons Behind the Popularity of Nitrile Rubber

Jun 08, 2021 Food Grade Seals | Industrial seals | Mechanical Seals

Nitrile rubber, also referred to as nitrile butadiene rubber or NBR rubber, has been around for many years. Owing to its several beneficial features and properties, the material act as the backbone of the industrial as well as automotive rubber product industries. NBR is a combination of a complex family of unsaturated synthetic rubber copolymers of acrylonitrile (CAN) and butadiene. In fact, industrial NBR rubber is one of the most sought after sealing materials owing to its capability to resist fuel, water, grease, oil, flame retardant liquids, and much more. This is one of the reasons that makes NBR material so popular, but there are other reasons too. This post attempts to answer all the questions about nitrile rubber. So, stay tuned.

What Makes NBR Material So Popular?

Nitrile is the most popular sealing element in use today owing to its notable and strong engineering properties mentioned below. The physical and chemical properties of this material depend on the polymer’s composition of nitrile. The resistance to oils increases, but its flexibility decreases, if there is more nitrile present within the polymer.

NBR material is widely recognized for its oil and temperature resistance property. The oil resistance in the nitrile material varies based on the overall percentage of acrylonitrile. This means, more acrylonitrile makes the material more resistant to swelling from oil, and less permeable to gases. The material is also known for its excellent tensile strength, heat resistance, and resilience. These properties make it a common material across the automotive industry that is useful for engine hoses, O-rings, gaskets, and more.
Nitrile rubber works well within the temperature range from -35°C to +120°C (-30°F to +250°F). It has excellent puncture resistance, good rebound, tear resistance, and non-polar solvent resistance. Nitrile rubber is less expensive than most other synthetic rubbers.
Specific grades of nitrile rubber material are compatible with polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and therefore can be compounded together to offer better resistance against aging, petrol, flame, ozone, and many more parameters.
NBR is also resistant to aliphatic hydrocarbons.
With low acrylonitrile content, it is possible to achieve low-temperature flexibility and resilience.
Most grades of NBR material, especially carboxylates ones have improved physical properties as well as resistance to higher temperatures.
Oil and fuel-resistant nitrile O-rings are used for several military rubber specifications.
Portable water compounds of nitrile are best suited to use in several food and pharmaceutical applications.

Application Areas of Nitrile Rubber

Owing to the above notable properties and beneficial features, NBR material is preferred for several applications across industries. The most important among them are nitrile O-rings, nitrile seals, and more. Excellent resistance to heat aging property makes nitrile seals a preferred choice for the following applications:

Medical
Aerospace
Automotive
Food and Beverage
Nuclear
Power generation

Would you like to consider this durable nitrile rubber for your next application? If that sounds yes, then consult a pioneer in the sealing solutions industry segment. With vast years of experience and highly skilled experts, SSP Seals is a well-recognized and a trusted manufacturer of various types of seals including nitrile O-rings and nitrile seals.