Wet Mixing with Organic Solvent for Synthesized cis-1,4-Polyisoprene-Based Rubber Composites

Xiaojian Wang; Zhaobin Chen; Hongguo Sun; Yuan Yin; Yan Huan; Xiaoniu Yang

doi:10.1021/acsomega.0c03957

Wet Mixing with Organic Solvent for Synthesized cis-1,4-Polyisoprene-Based Rubber Composites

ACS Omega. 2020 Nov 17;5(47):30444-30453. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.0c03957. eCollection 2020 Dec 1.

Authors

Xiaojian Wang^{1

2}, Zhaobin Chen², Hongguo Sun², Yuan Yin², Yan Huan², Xiaoniu Yang^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ College of Applied Chemistry and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China.
² State Key Laboratory of Polymer Physics and Chemistry and Polymer Composite Engineering Laboratory, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun 130022, China.

Abstract

In this work, well-dispersed fumed SiO₂/cis-1,4-polyisoprene rubber (IR) masterbatch was first obtained through an effective wet mixing method, and the properties of the corresponding vulcanizate were studied. Before curing with activator and sulfur, IR solution was blended and co-coagulated with SiO₂ suspension modified by bis(3-trimethoxysilypropyl) tetrasulfide in n-hexane. The modification of TESPT imparted evenly distributed SiO₂ particles in IR and improved interfacial binding among SiO₂ and IR. Hence, the prepared compound presented better processability and the corresponding vulcanizate presented higher physical performance, including higher tensile strength, lower heat buildup, and better fatigue resistance than that prepared in the dry mixing method. Additionally, higher wet skid resistance and lower rolling resistance could be observed in fabricated SiO₂/IR vulcanizate. The employed wet mixing method is economical and efficient, which is promising in preparing rubber composites with comprehensive performance.