Hyperelastic characteristics of graphene natural rubber composites and reinforcement and toughening mechanisms at multi-scale

Abstract In order to meet the increasing demand of damping and shock absorption materials, graphene-based rubber composites are considered as a candidate material because of their excellent strength and toughness. Here, we propose a small and excessive amount of 3-aminopropyl triethoxy silane (APTS) modified graphene oxide as a functional composite material for filling and reinforcing natural rubber, and we also prepare the corresponding natural rubber composites containing graphene oxide (go) and reduced graphene oxide (rgo). Compared with natural rubber filled with carbon black, the crosslinking density and mechanical properties of the composites containing graphene prepared in this paper improved significantly. The strengthening and toughening mechanism of APTS modified graphene oxide filled composites revealed at the micron, nano and even molecular level by FTIR, AFM and SEM characterisation. Notably, by comparing the surface RMS roughness of graphene oxide edited with a small and excessive amount of APTS, we find that the higher the surface roughness of graphene, the more obvious the effect of strengthening and toughening after compounding with natural rubber. These results will be helpful for the application of graphene composites in rubber damping materials.