Effects of partial replacement of commercial fillers by recycled poly(ethylene terephthalate) powder on the properties of natural rubber composites

Abstract

Commercial fillers, including carbon black (N550), halloysite nanotubes (HNTs), and precipitated silica, were replaced by recycled poly(ethylene terephthalate) powder (R‐PET) in natural rubber (NR) composites. Five different compositions of NR/N550/R‐PET, NR/HNTs/R‐PET, and NR/silica/R‐PET compounds, i.e., 100/20/0, 100/15/5, 100/10/10, 100/5/15, and 100/0/20 parts per hundred rubber (phr), were prepared on a two‐roll mill. The curing behavior, tensile properties, and morphological characteristics of the natural rubber composites were investigated. The results indicated that the replacement of carbon black, HNTs, and silica by R‐PET decreased the tensile strength and tensile modulus, such that NR/silica/R‐PET composites showed the lowest effect, followed by NR/HNTs/R‐PET and NR/N550/R‐PET composites. The negative effect on these properties can be explained by the decrease of crosslink density. The curing results revealed that with the replacement of carbon black by R‐PET, the scorch time and cure time decreased, but that the NR/HNTs/R‐PET and NR/silica/R‐PET composites exhibited the opposite trend. Scanning electron microscopy investigation of tensile fracture surfaces confirmed that the co‐incorporation of N550/R‐PET improved the dispersion of R‐PET and enhanced the interaction between the fillers and NR matrix more than R‐PET and silica/R‐PET hybrid fillers. J. VINYL ADDIT. TECHNOL., 2012. © 2012 Society of Plastics Engineers

Effects of halloysite nanotubes on the properties of polypropylene/(recycled natural rubber gloves)/(halloysite nanotubes composites)

“…The improvement of tensile strength is attributed to the geometrical structure of HNTs because the HNTs have a tubular nanostructure, a large aspect ratio , and high strength, stiffness, and modulus of HNTs . In addition, the uniform dispersion of HNTs in the polymer matrix also enhances the tensile strength of the composite.…”

“…The incorporation of waste materials into the polymer composite has been widely reported . One of the waste materials is natural rubber (NR) gloves.…”

Effect of high loading of titanium dioxide particles on the morphology, mechanical and thermo-mechanical properties of the natural rubber-based composites

“…The dynamic mechanical thermal analysis showed that the prepared materials have similar glass transition temperatures. However, increase in the content of titanium dioxide in the obtained materials is connected with higher energy 1 3 Fillers are incorporated into rubber compounds to improve processability, cost reduction, and physical properties modifying the composites [11,12]. One of the most important reasons for filler addition is related to make the production of the final product more economical [11].…”

Enhancing the thermal stability of natural rubber/recycled ethylene propylene diene rubber blends through the use of bio‐compatibilizers

“…The occurrence of cross‐linking NRL‐compatibilized blends is believed to account for the increases in M100 and hardness. It has been reported elsewhere that the modulus is an inverse function of elongation at break. The characteristics which improve elongation at break also act to reduce the modulus of rubber vulcanizate.…”