Journal
POLYMERS
Volume 13, Issue 15, Pages -Publisher
MDPI
DOI: 10.3390/polym13152413
Keywords
nanocomposites; silica; Sepiolite; dual fillers
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Funding
- National Research Found of Luxembourg (FNR)
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The study investigates the synergistic effect of dual silica-based fillers in SBR/PBD rubber matrix, showing that anisotropic fillers align only in the presence of a critical amount of HDS, leading to increased stiffness of the nanocomposite, while spherical 250 nm nanoparticles inhibit percolation network and reduce stiffness.
The improvement of mechanical properties of polymer-based nanocomposites is usually obtained through a strong polymer-silica interaction. Most often, precipitated silica nanoparticles are used as filler. In this work, we study the synergetic effect occurring between dual silica-based fillers in a styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR)/polybutadiene (PBD) rubber matrix. Precipitated Highly Dispersed Silica (HDS) nanoparticles (10 nm) have been associated with spherical Stober silica nanoparticles (250 nm) and anisotropic nano-Sepiolite. By imaging filler at nano scale through Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy, we have shown that anisotropic fillers align only in presence of a critical amount of HDS. The dynamic mechanical analysis of rubber compounds confirms that this alignment leads to a stiffer nanocomposite when compared to Sepiolite alone. On the contrary, spherical 250 nm nanoparticles inhibit percolation network and reduce the nanocomposite stiffness.
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