Interactive Fillers

The processing methods for siHcone mbber are similar to those used in the natural mbber industry (59,369—371). Polymer gum stock and fillers are compounded in a dough or Banbury-type mixer. Catalysts are added and additional compounding is completed on water-cooled roU mills. For small batches, the entire process can be carried out on a two-roU mill. Heat-cured siHcone mbber is commercially available as gum stock, reinforced gum, partially filled gum, uncatalyzed compounds, dispersions, and catalyzed compounds. The latter is ready for use without additional processing. Before being used, sihcone mbber is often freshened, ie, the compound is freshly worked on a mbber mill until it is a smooth continuous sheet. The freshening process eliminates the stmcturing problems associated with polymer—filler interactions. 

Based on this variety of properties, amorphous polybutadiene has found a niche in the mbber industry. Moreover, it appears that the anionicaHy prepared polymer is the only polymer that can be functionalized by polar groups. The functionalization is done by using aromatic substituted aldehydes and ketones or esters. Functionalization has been reported to dramatically improve polymer-filler interaction and reduce tread hysteresis (70—73). 

The authors of [99] proposed a calorimetric method for determining the degree of the polymer-filler interaction the exothermal effect manifests itself in the high energy of the polymer-filler adhesion, the endothermal effect is indicative of a poor, if any, adhesion. The method was used to assess the strength of the PVC-Aerosil interaction with Aerosil surface subjected to different pre-treatments... 

Depending on the nature of the polymer-filler interaction and the fracture surface status (smooth or rough), Eq. (34) predicts either a rather smooth variation of the elongation with increasing filler concentration or a sharp drop at some small filler content. 

In the first approximation A(c) should be dependent on the molecular characteristics of the matrix and matrix-filler interaction. 

Even though Eq. (36) was derived on the basis of a simplest model and, as the authors themselves admit, cannot be expected to provide a high degree of agreement with the experiment, it can well be used for obtaining rough estimates of the matrix-filler interaction. 

Thus a strong bond is not always desirable. We can see this from Table 7 and 8. The authors of [100] interpreted their experimental data as follows the rigidity of specimens increases with increasing PVC-filler interaction as a result the rate of relaxation of stresses arising at interphases in the course of deformation decreases. The overstressed states at the interphases may, in the authors opinion, promote separation of the polymer from the filler surface. That is, it is more desirable that the matrix-filler bond is not rigid but labile. 

Note that the variation of the enthalpy of filler interaction with the coat (dH) is fully determined by dH since AHj and AH2 remain practically constant. 

There is currently considerable interest in processing polymeric composite materials filled with nanosized rigid particles. This class of material called "nanocomposites" describes two-phase materials where one of the phases has at least one dimension lower than 100 nm [13]. Because the building blocks of nanocomposites are of nanoscale, they have an enormous interface area. Due to this there are a lot of interfaces between two intermixed phases compared to usual microcomposites. In addition to this, the mean distance between the particles is also smaller due to their small size which favors filler-filler interactions [14]. Nanomaterials not only include metallic, bimetallic and metal oxide but also polymeric nanoparticles as well as advanced materials like carbon nanotubes and dendrimers. However considering environmetal hazards, research has been focused on various means which form the basis of green nanotechnology. 

Kraus equation and Kraus plots based on swelling data are largely used to explore the rubber-filler interaction in conventional composites [62]. Bandyopadhyay et al. [38] have employed the same equation for understanding the reinforcement behavior in ACM-silica and ENR-silica hybrid... 

The important yet unexpected result is that in NR-s-SBR (solution) blends, carbon black preferably locates in the interphase, especially when the rubber-filler interaction is similar for both polymers. In this case, the carbon black volume fraction is 0.6 for the interphase, 0.24 for s-SBR phase, and only 0.09 in the NR phase. The higher amount in SBR phase could be due to the presence of aromatic structure both in the black and the rubber. Further, carbon black is less compatible with NR-cE-1,4 BR blend than NR-s-SBR blend because of the crystallization tendency of the former blend. There is a preferential partition of carbon black in favor of cis-1,4 BR, a significant lower partition coefficient compared to NR-s-SBR. Further, it was observed that the partition coefficient decreases with increased filler loading. In the EPDM-BR blend, the partition coefficient is as large as 3 in favor of BR. 

The formation of PPD groups on the polymer backbone provides a mechanism to improve the polymer-filler interactions. The nitrogen-hydrogen bonds are capable of hydrogen bonding with polar groups on the surface of the filler. This enhanced interaction provides for somewhat unique dynamic mechanical properties. Under ideal conditions rolling resistance improves when QDI is used in the mix. Also, abrasion characteristics are maintained and in some cases even modest improvements occur. 

In addition to increases in high-strain loss modulus, reductions in low-strain loss modulus are also observed. This may be attributed to the improvements in polymer-filler interactions which may reduce the amount of filler networking occurring in the compound. The low-strain losses are dominated by disruptions in the filler-filler network, the Payne effect. 

FIGURE 16.9 Lower moduli, both G and G" at low strain and higher moduli at high strain support the improvement in pol)mier to filler interaction. 

Quinone diimines are capable of reacting rapidly with radicals formed during intensive mixing. The product, a polymer-bound PPD moiety, provides a polar functionality which is capable of improving polymer-filler interactions. In general the improvements can result in modest reductions in tangent delta (rolling resistance) and modest improvements in abrasion resistance. 

Before dealing with reinforcement of elastomers we have to introduce the basic molecular features of mbber elasticity. Then, we introduce—step-by-step—additional components into the model which consider the influence of reinforcing disordered solid fillers like carbon black or silica within a rabbery matrix. At this point, we will pay special attention to the incorporation of several additional kinds of complex interactions which then come into play polymer-filler and filler-filler interactions. We demonstrate how a model of reinforced elastomers in its present state allows a thorough description of the large-strain materials behavior of reinforced mbbers in several fields of technical applications. In this way we present a thoroughgoing line from molecular mechanisms to industrial applications of reinforced elastomers. 

Flocculation studies, considering the small-strain mechanical response of the uncross-hnked composites during heat treatment (annealing), demonstrate that a relative movement of the particles takes place that depends on particle size, molar mass of the polymer, as well as polymer-filler and filler-filler interactions (Figure 22.2). This provides strong experimental evidence for a kinetic cluster-cluster aggregation (CCA) mechanism of filler particles in the mbber matrix to form a filler network [24]. 

See, J.L. Leblanc, Insight into elastomer—filler interactions and their role in the processing behaviour of mbber compounds, Prog. Rubber Plast. TechnoL, 10/2, 110-129, 1994, for a pictorial representation of such a morphology. 

J.L. Leblanc, Elastomer—filler interactions and the rheology of filled mbber compounds, J. Appl. Polym. ScL, 78, 1541-1550, 2000. 

Polymer-filler interaction of carbon black surface... 

It has been well established that wear resistance of filled rubber is essentially determined by filler loading, filler morphology, and polymer-filler interaction. For fillers having similar morphologies, an increase in polymer-filler interaction, either through enhancement of physical adsorption of polymer chains on the filler surface, or via creation of chemical linkages between filler and polymer, is crucial to the enhancement of wear resistance. In addition, filler dispersion is also essential as it is directly related to the contact area of polymer with filler, hence polymer-filler interaction. 

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