In the present study, free radical graft copolymerization of acrylic monomers and microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) was applied to develop a biopolymer for natural rubber reinforcements. The copolymerization was carried out in aqueous media. Cerium ammonium nitrate was employed as the initiator in the presence of nitric acid. Acrylic monomers used in the copolymer synthesis were ethyl acrylate (EA) and butyl acrylate (BA). Effects of monomer concentration, initiator concentration, polymerization time, and polymerization temperature on the obtained graft copolymers were investigated. The graft parameters were obtained by thermal gravimetric analysis method. The obtained copolymers (MCC-g-PEA, MCC-g-PBA) were characterized by attenuated total reflection, wide-angle X-ray diffraction, field-emission electron microscopy, and thermal gravimetric analysis. In comparison to native MCC, better thermal stability of graft copolymers were observed. In addition, the graft copolymers reinforced natural rubber composites were produced, and sulfur was used as the vulcanizing agent. Their vulcanization and mechanical properties were characterized. Comparing to the native MCC reinforced natural rubber composites, the copolymers reinforced natural rubber composites shows improved mechanical properties, indicating the copolymer's potential application as rubber reinforcements.
Latex compounding method (LCM) was applied to ensure a better dispersion state of filler in rubber matrix. In order to enhance the compatibility and interfacial interaction between carboxylated-styrene butadiene rubber (XSBR) and rice bran carbon (RBC), a series of coupling agents i.e., N-(2-aminoethyl)-3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (AAPTS), 3-mercaptopropyltrimethoxysilane (MPTMS), 4,4-methylene bis(phenyl isocyanate) (MDI) and ionic liquid 1-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate (HMIMPF6) were applied. Morphology of the fracture surface, mechanical property, thermal stability, vulcanization characters and dynamic mechanical property were investigated. The characterization on the resultant composites demonstrated that the MDI exhibited the superior reinforcing effect, of which the tensile strength and 300% modulus reached to 16.43 and 16.33 MPa, respectively. The study on fracture surface, Raman spectrum, thermal stability and storage modulus confirmed the strong interfacial interaction resulted from MDI. In addition, ionic liquid also exhibited coupling activity, improving the mechanical properties of the composites.
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