Attempts to use bagasse ash (BA) as a filler in natural rubber (NR) have been made. Acidolysis/alkaline extraction method was used to purify BA. The purified BA (PBA) was subsequently characterized by various techniques such as X‐ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and so forth. After the purification, PBA had a lower particle size and a higher specific surface area. XRD results showed that silica was the main composition of PBA while FTIR results revealed the existence of hydroxyl groups on the PBA surface. The reinforcement magnitude of PBA in NR was subsequently evaluated both without and with the addition of surface modifying agents, namely, bis‐3‐triethoxysilylpropyl tetrasulfide (TESPT) and epoxidized natural rubber (ENR). Due to its large particle size, PBA acted as a semi‐reinforcing filler for NR, that is, the small increases of hardness, modulus and tensile strength were observed in the presence of PBA. As TESPT and ENR could improve the extent of rubber‐filler interaction, mechanical properties of the NR vulcanizates filled with PBA‐TESPT and PBA‐ENR were slightly higher than those of the PBA‐filled NR vulcanizate. For instance, tensile strength exhibited approximately 22% increase after the surface treatment. In this study, both PBA‐TESPT and PBA‐ENR showed comparable degree of reinforcement.
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