129Xe-NMR of carbon black filled elastomers

It is shown that 129Xe-NMR is a powerful tool to investigate carbon black and carbon black filled elastomers. For the carbon black material itself the129Xe chemical shift of xenon adsorbed at the surface of carbon black aggregates yields information about the relative average pore size of the carbon black aggregates. The experimental 129Xe-NMR results of carbon black filled ethylene-propylene-diene (EPDM) can be explained when it is assumed that the xenon atoms in the bound EPDM fraction exchange rapidly on the NMR time scale between a state where they are adsorbed on the carbon black surface and a state in which they are absorbed in the EPDM layer. This would imply that the carbon black aggregates are not completely covered with EPDM chains.