Reinforcement and Toughening of Rubber by Bridging Graphene and Nanosilica

Nowadays, there are considerable researches focusing on using different types of nanofillers to reinforce rubber materials. Here, we described a method of bridging graphene and nanosilica by covalent bonding, and rubber nanocomposites were prepared by emulsion mixing of nanofillers and natural rubber. The presence of the covalent bridging could be confirmed by the experimental results of Fourier transform infrared spectrometry, thermo-gravimetric analysis and transmission electron microscopy. The results of tensile test showed that the addition of a small amount of the hybrid nanofillers can lead to the significant improvement of tensile strength without the decrease in extensibility of the filled rubbers. Based on equilibrium swelling method, it was found that the covalent bridging is beneficial for the increase of interaction between rubber and fillers and the force transfer between different chains. Besides, dynamic Monte Carlo simulations demonstrated that the hybrid nanofillers enhance the orientations of chain segments in interfacial regions.