Further Enhancement of Mechanical Properties of Conducting Rubber Composites Based on Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes and Nitrile Rubber by Solvent Treatment

Abstract

Post-treatment removal of dispersion agents from carbon nanotube/rubber composites can greatly enhance the mechanical properties by increasing the filler–matrix interaction. In this study, multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWNT) were dispersed in water by sonication and nonionic surfactant, octyl-phenol-ethoxylate was used as a dispersion agent. The dispersed MWNTs were incorporated in thermo-reactive acrylonitrile butadiene rubber (NBR) latex and nanocomposite films were prepared by solution casting. As a post-treatment, the surfactant was removed with acetone and films were dried in air. Dispersion quality of the colloid before casting was determined, and mechanical, electrical and thermal properties of the composites before and after the acetone post-treatment were studied. It was found that removal of dispersion agent increased the storage modulus of films between 160–300% in all samples. Relative enhancement was greater in samples with better dispersion quality, whereas thermal conductivity changed more in samples with smaller dispersion quality values. Electrical properties were not notably affected.

Conductive Cellulose based Foam Formed 3D Shapes—From Innovation to Designed Prototype

“…Five of them were tested as such, while another set of five samples was washed in an appropriate amount of acetone in RT, so that the remaining surfactant Triton X-100 was removed. In general, the removal of surfactants from various nanocomposites can enhance the mechanical and electrical properties [14,29]. All of the non-woven samples were conditioned according to the standard ISO 139 before the tensile testing.…”

Surface modification of zirconia by various modifiers to investigate its reinforcing efficiency toward nitrile rubber

“…[18][19][20] A plenty of reports are available on surface modification of zirconia that has been studied from different viewpoints. This includes a variety of surface modifier, namely, Organosilane: bis(triethoxysilylpropyl) tetrasulfide (TESPT), [19] methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane (MPS), [21,22] 3-(amino propyl) trimethoxysilane (APTES) [23,24] ; Surfactants: sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS), [25,26] cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB), [27,28] lauryl amine hydrochloride [29] ; organic additives: 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA), [30] ethyl 3,4-dihydroxy cinnamate (EDHC), allylmalonic acid (AMA), trimethylolpropane trimethacrylate (TMPMA), [31] carboxylic acid, [32] bis-phosphonic acid, [33] glucose and fructose. [34,35] However, high cost, processing complexity and elevated processing temperature, needed for efficient surface modification, are some major drawbacks to limit their practical applicability in large scale.…”

Improving the swelling, mechanical, and electrical properties in natural rubber latex/carbon nanotubes nanocomposites: Effect of the sonication method

“…When used in rubber latex dispersion, the most common procedure relies on preparing a filler suspension before the incorporation in latex media. This procedure was used by Keinänen et al 28 to disperse probe sonicated carbon nanotubes/water suspension in NBR latex. The authors studied the effect of sonication time in the suspension viscosity, which increased and attenuated the sonochemistry energy.…”