Impacts of deep eutectic solvent on silica/nitrile rubber nanocomposites for high-pressure hydrogen storage applications

Rubber nanocomposites used for hydrogen (H-2) energy storage demand tailored mechanical and compressed gas permeation properties. Herein, deep eutectic solvent (DES) is used as a promising silica dispersant to mediate the mechanical and gas swelling behavior of nitrile rubber (NBR) nanocomposites. The results reveal that DES improves the mechanical deformational stress and lowers the swelling degree with well-dispersed silica in NBR, allowing the preparation of high-performance nanocomposites with potential applications in preventing H-2 leakage in high-pressure equipment facilities. Under 0.01 and 90 MPa H-2 pressures at 24 degrees C and 37 degrees C, the NBR nanocomposites with DES demonstrate lower swellings, and the improved crosslinking density and nanofillers dispersion enhance the mechanical properties while retaining the dissipation of the Mullins effect. This sheds light on the mechanical failure mechanism and the design of tailorable high-pressure rubber sealings.