Development and Characterization of Elastomeric Nanocomposites

Abstract

Nanoparticles of zinc oxide were synthesized by solution combustion method. The average newlinesize of these particles was analyzed by using X-ray diffraction. Composites of natural rubber newlineand the ZnO nanoparticles were prepared by latex blending method. The matrix phase was newlinecured by using the crosslinking agent, pentane-1, 5-diylidenediamine. Effects of crosslinking newlineand incorporation of nanoparticles on the tensile and solvent transport properties of the natural newlinerubber were studied in detail. The nature of the dispersion of the nanoparticles was analyzed newlineby scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-Ray analysis (EDX). It was newlineobserved from the tensile studies that the addition of the curing agent and the ZnO newlinenanoparticles increased the stability considerably. Incorporation of the nanoparticles also newlineconsiderably increased the solvent resistance of the cured Natural Rubber. We suggest the newlineaddition of ZnO nanoparticles at a low loading level provided better properties compared to newlineother reinforcements, such as carbon black and nano-clay. newlineFurthermore, composites of vulcanized Natural Rubber have also been prepared by newlineincorporating carbon black as the nano-fillers. Effects of curing agent and filler incorporation newlineon the morphology and electrical properties of natural rubber were systematically investigated. newlineElectrical properties in terms of dielectric constant, dielectric loss and ac conductivity were newlinemeasured. Pure Natural Rubber showed higher dielectric properties and ac conductivity newlinecompared to pentane-1, 5-deylidenediamine cured Natural Rubber which was gradually newlinedecreased upto certain value due to the immobilization of non-rubber constituents present in newlineNatural Rubber. Carbon black filled cured Natural Rubber composites compared to Zinc Oxide newlinereveal lower dielectric properties, which might be due to the polar nature of Zinc Oxide. newlineAnother objective of this study is to improve the properties of NR/PVA blend which is cured newlineusing glutaraldehyde at low temperature. PMMA grafted on to NR with different grafti