Properties of silica/natural rubber composite film and foam: Effects of silica content and sulfur vulcanization system

This research paper investigated the effects of the silica content and the sulfur vulcanization system on the mechanical properties of silica-filled natural rubber (NR) composite film and foam to be used in various applications. Three different sulfur vulcanization systems (conventional (CV), semi-efficient (Semi-EV), and efficient (EV)) were thoroughly studied to improve the quality of vulcanized NR and their composite with silica. The ground silica was treated with Silane 69. Scanning Electron Microscope demonstrated that the treated silica in NR was well dispersed. In addition, the treated silica resulted in better mechanical properties than for untreated silica. The optimum amount of silica in non-vulcanized rubber was 16 phr. Furthermore, the mechanical properties of vulcanized rubber from the CV system were better than those from the Semi-EV and EV systems due to the higher degree of crosslinking in the former. In addition, when the TSi/NR composite foam specimens at 8 phr had an applied load that was 4.41 times that of non-silica rubber foam.

Automated summary

This research investigated the effects of silica content and sulfur vulcanization system on the mechanical properties of silica-filled natural rubber (NR) composite. The study found that treated silica exhibited better mechanical properties, and rubber vulcanized with the conventional sulfur vulcanization system showed superior mechanical properties compared to other systems.