"Preparation and properties of natural rubber/silica composite with micron/nano silica co-filling "

Abstract

Natural rubber/silica composite masterbatch with dispersed silica particle size of 100 nm was prepared by wet mixing process, and micron/nano co-filled natural rubber/silica composite with a total silica filling amount of 60 phr （mass） was prepared by traditional dry mixing process. The results showed that the silica with small particle size filled in the wet mixing process was still dispersed in its primitive size, and tended to form a tight bound rubber layer. The use of wet mixing process improved the dispersion of silica, and weakened the Payne effect of the composites. When the ratio of small to large silica particles prepared in combination with dry mixing process was 50/10, the wider particle size distribution of the filler was formed, and the silica-rubber binding strength was moderate, which further improved the tensile strength and elongation at break of natural rubber/silica composite.

Keywords

• silica， natural rubber， micro/nano co-filling，tight bound rubber，wet mixing， payne effect，tensile property，