Process for the production of water and solvent-free hydrogenated nitrile rubbers

A hydrogenated nitrile rubber comprising repeating units derived from at least one conjugated diene and at least one α,β-unsaturated nitrile, wherein the hydrogenated nitrile rubber has a viscosity of a maximum of 1,000 Pa*s at 100° C. and a shear rate of 1/s, wherein the hydrogenated nitrile rubber has less than 0.2 wt % of volatile compounds, wherein the volatile compounds comprise both water and volatile organic compounds, wherein a proportion of the repeating units derived from the α,β-unsaturated nitrile is greater than 43% b.w., based on a total weight of the hydrogenated nitrile rubber, and wherein the hydrogenated nitrile rubber has a weight average molecular weight Mw of 50,000 g/mol or less, and wherein apart from the conjugated diene and the at least one α,β-unsaturated nitrile, the hydrogenated nitrile rubber comprises repeating units of one or more further copolymerizable monomers, and wherein the hydrogenated nitrile rubber has a polydispersity (Mw/Mn) of less than 2.0.