They are also known as Buna-N, NBR, and also by the name of acrylonitrile butadiene rubber. Many prominent Nitrile rubber sheet suppliers consider these rubber sheets to be the backbone of many essential industries, the most prominent of which is the automotive industry. It is also widely used in the food industry.
After choosing an elastomer that has the perfect acrylonitrile content which, in turn, is in complete balance with other properties, these rubber sheets can be used for a variety of purposes in certain application areas where resistance to chemical, oil, and fuel is a must.
Let us see an example…In the automotive industry, as we have already seen earlier, Nitrile sheets are applied for handling water applications, and in fuel and oil handling hose, grommets and seals.
Do these sheets have any back draw?
These rubber compounds are known to exhibit more than satisfactory resistance to general hydrocarbons, inorganic chemical products, with the exception of chlorine and other inorganic chemical products.
However, these sheets, just like any other rubber sheet, have a back draw of its own.
These sheets are highly polar in nature, and therefore, it is highly recommended by experts that these sheets should never be used with any polar liquids, for example, like ethers, ketones, and amines.
Some more interesting facts about Nitrile rubber sheets:
- Many of you reading this blog might not know this, but these rubber sheets are also used in the nuclear industry, in order to    make protective gear, mainly gloves.
- In addition, they have an extremely wide operating temperature, which makes them perfect for use in another surprising sector that is the aeronautics sector.
- Due to its high resilience, these rubber sheets are also useful for producing laboratory gloves that are not only disposable but can be applied for cleaning and examination purposes as well.
Since we are dealing with the areas of application where these rubber sheets can be used, let us take glance at some of the applications of these sheets!!
Applications of Nitrile rubber:
These rubber sheets are heavily used in sectors like the automotive and food industry. However, they can used for other purposes as we have already seen earlier. They can also be used for the production of the following:
- Non-latex, disposable gloves.
- Automotive transmission belts.
- Hoses and O-Rings.
- Oil Seals.
- Synthetic leather.
- V – Belts.
- Cable jacketing.
- Printer’s form rollers.
The NBR latex is widely used in the manufacturing of various adhesives and also as a pigment binder.
The 2 other different types of Special Purpose Nitrile sheets:
 1.Hydrogenated nitrile butadiene rubber (HNBR)
They are more commonly known as highly saturated nitrile (HSN) and are primarily known for their exceptional physical strength and retention of properties even after long exposure to oils, heat, and chemicals.
- Carboxylated nitrile butadiene rubber (XNBR)
This one is nothing but an updated version of Nitrile rubber and possesses excellent physical properties, especially when you compare it with a non-carboxylated nitrile rubber.
Here’s how NBR differs from other rubbers:
- NBR, unlike most other polymers meant for ingestion, does not at all get affected by minor inconsistencies in the chemical composition and or structure. There are literally zero effects on the general properties of this compound as a result of such inconsistencies.
- Also, the production process is relatively easy, when compared to other rubber compounds.
The polymerization, monomer recovery, and coagulation processes need some equipment and extra additives, but these are the same when it comes to the production of any multipurpose rubber sheet, in this case, a nitrile sheet.
· And lastly, the equipment and apparatuses required for the production of this rubber are easily available in the market.
It is for these aforementioned reasons that these substances are widely produced in countries where the labor cost is relatively cheaper than in other countries.
For example, countries like Taiwan and China are considered to be the largest producers of this type of rubber as in these countries you can easily get cheap labor.
