Electron spin resonance (ESR) is a powerful technique to study the mechanochemical reactions in deformed polymeric materials including elastomers.
This review gives results of ESR measurements of vulcanizates under tensile deformation. The measurements were carried out by the combination of home-built stretching machine with commercially available ESR spectrometer.
The destruction and re-combination of crosslinking structure developed in the vulcanizates were confirmed by the changes of radical concentration during tensile deformation. Further, the degree of strain induced crystallization in vulcaniates was correlated with the partial breakdown of network structure in the vulcanizates.