Mechanical properties of fiber reinforced styrene–butadiene rubbers using surface-modified UHMWPE fibers under EB irradiation

Aiming to develop a high performance fiber reinforced rubber of SBR, a special technique using electron beam (EB) irradiation-induced graft-polymerization was applied to ultra-high molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) fibers. Although UHMWPE is chemically inert, N-vinyl formamide (NVF) could be graft-polymerized onto the UHMWPE fiber surface with this special technique. A maximum grafting percentage of 23.6% was achieved. The composite of SBR and grafted UHMWPE fibers with maximum grafting indicated a linear increase in the initial modulus and strength with the fiber content. At the fiber content of 10%, the initial modulus was improved about five times with respect to that of the pure SBR, while the strength was done about twice. At this moment, only a small reduction could be observed in the strain compared with that of pure SBR. The fiber reinforced rubber with a good performance was obtained in the system of SBR and grafted UHMWPE fibers.