Diffusion Kinetics of TNT in Acrylonitrile—Butadiene Rubber via FT-IR/ATR Spectroscopy

Abstract

We have used the FT-IR/ATR technique to investigate TNT diffusion in acrylonitrile–butadiene rubber (NBR) at 93, 103, and 113 °C. An analysis of the frequency and intensity of the NO2 symmetric and asymmetric stretch vibrations suggests that TNT diffused in NBR is in an isolated molecular state and/or cluster form. The diffusion process can be well-described by Fickian kinetics. The kinetic model fitting shows that the diffusion coefficient of TNT in NBR is on the order of 10−7 cm2/s and the activation energy is in the range of 30–35 kJ/mol.