The Effect of Carbon Black Content on Viscoelastic Properties of Vulcanized Natural Rubber

Abstract

The effect of filler content on viscoelastic properties of carbon black filled vulcanized natural rubber is here studied. The filled natural rubber specimens are subjected to dynamic mechanical loading with the temperature varying from −80 °C to 100 °C. While the storage modulus of unfilled and filled rubber materials remains nearly the same in the glassy state, the glass transition temperature significantly increased in the case of latter. The data also indicate that the rubbery modulus of filled rubber increases with increasing carbon black content. The loss factor data suggest that the damping characteristics of filled rubber decrease with increasing carbon black content.

Keywords

• natural rubber
• carbon black
• dynamic mechanical analyzer (DMA)