Influence of surface characteristics of carbon blacks on cure and mechanical behaviors of rubber matrix compoundings

In this work, the effect of chemical modification on the surface energetics and cure kinetics of carbon blacks (CBs) modified with KOH and C6H6 was investigated by contact angle and rheometer measurements, respectively. Also, the resulting mechanical properties of the CBs/styrene-butadiene composites were studied in terms of tensile and dynamic mechanical analysis. As experimental results, the polar basic and nonpolar chemical treatments showed an increase of the London dispersive component (γSL) of γS of the CBs without significantly changing the surface properties and microstructures that resulted from the deaggregation of microstructures and decrease of the swollen weight of the sample in the equilibrium state. Also, it was clearly revealed that the increase of γS of the CBs could largely affect the vulcanization and mechanical properties of the composites, resulting from the increase in γSL of the CBs. These results were evident that the mechanical properties of the composites were controlled more by the γSL of γS than by the specific (or polar) component (γSSP), including electron acceptor and donor parameters on CB surfaces in an organic matrix composite system.