A high-performance, thermal and electrical conductive elastomer composite based on Ti3C2 MXene

In this study, a single-layered Ti3C2 hybrid SiO2 filler (Ti3C2-h-SiO2) was proposed to fabricate high-performance styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) elastomer composites. It was found that incorporating SiO2 not only facilitated the uniform dispersion of Ti3C2-h-SiO2 in the SBR matrix but also endowed the surface of Ti3C2-h-SiO2 with nano protuberances for immobilizing more rubber chains, resulting in the improvement of the interfacial interaction between Ti3C2-h-SiO2 and SBR matrix. Thus, the tensile strength of the SBR/Ti3C2-h-SiO2 elastomer composite was reinforced by 174% compared with the unfilled SBR. Moreover, the wet skid resistance and rolling resistance of the SBR/Ti3C2-h-SiO2 elastomer composite were also remarkably improved. Noteworthily, the exceptional thermal conductivity (0.401 W m-1 k-1) and electrical conductivity (4.87 ? 10-4 S m-1) of the SBR/Ti3C2-hSiO2 elastomer composite were comparable to the SBR/reduced graphene oxide (rGO) elastomer composite, implying that the conductivity of Ti3C2-h-SiO2 may be competitive with the rGO.

Automated summary

A high-performance SBR elastomer composite was developed using Ti3C2-h-SiO2 filler, which significantly improved tensile strength and skid resistance by enhancing interfacial interaction and rubber chain immobilization. Ti3C2-h-SiO2 exhibited comparable thermal and electrical conductivity to rGO, suggesting potential competitive advantages.