Curing kinetics and mechanical behavior of natural rubber reinforced with pretreated carbon nanotubes

To significantly improve the performance of rubber materials, fundamental studies on rubber nanocomposites are necessary. The curing kinetics and vulcanizate properties of carbon nanotubes (CNTs)/natural rubber (NR) nanocomposites were analyzed in this paper. The pretreatment of CNTs was carried out by acid bath followed by ball milling with HRH bonding systems in experiments. The CNT/NR nanocomposites were prepared through solvent mixing on the basis of pretreatment of CNTs. The surface characteristic of CNTs and physical interaction between CNTs and NR macromolecules were analyzed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The vulcanization kinetics of CNT/NR nanocomposites were studied contrasting with the neat NR. The quality of the NR vulcanizates was assessed through static and dynamic mechanical property tests and scanning electron microscope (SEM). Curing kinetic parameters of the neat NR and CNT/NR nanocomposites were obtained from experiments; the results indicated that the presence of CNTs affects the curing process of the NR, and additional heating is required to cure CNT/NR nanocomposites due to its higher active energy. The dispersion of pretreated CNTs in the rubber matrix and interfacial adhesion between them were obviously improved. The physical and mechanical properties of the CNT/NR nanocomposites showed considerable increases by incorporation of the pretreated CNTs compared to the neat NR and untreated CNTs-filled NR nanocomposites.