Effect of carbon nanotubes with different lengths on mechanical and electrical properties of silica-filled styrene butadiene rubber compounds

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) having three different lengths of 5, 30, and 100 μm were added to silica-filled styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) compounds in order to investigate the effect of the CNT addition on the dynamic and electrical properties. The amounts of CNTs were 1, 2, 4, and 7 phr, while the amount of silica was set high at 80 phr to clearly demonstrate the performance of the CNTs as fillers. The effect of CNTs on the silica-filled SBR compounds on the tensile properties is not significant, but the addition of longer CNTs with high loading severely deteriorated the dynamic properties, but considerably enhanced electrical conductivity. The medium loading of CNTs in silica-filled SBR compounds is suitable for the improvement of the electrical conductivity without severely sacrificing the dynamic properties.