Impact of a nanomixture of carbon black and clay on the mechanical properties of a series of irradiated natural rubber/butyl rubber blend

A series of natural rubber/butyl rubber NR/IIR blend loaded with N660 carbon black (CB) and triethoxy vinyl silane treated clay nanoparticles (TCNPs) were prepared using gamma irradiation in the presence of a polyfunctional monomer, trimethylolpropane triacrylate (TMPTA). The effect of incorporating different contents of N660 CB and five parts per hundred of rubber (phr) of treated clay on the mechanical properties of the prepared nanocomposites has been investigated. The addition of TCNP to CB/rubber composites markedly increase their tensile strength due to the increase of the cross-link density. These results indicated that the TCNP may be enclosed or trapped in the occluded structure of CB. The effect of CB and the TCNP content on the tensile strength (sigma), elongation at break (epsilon(b), %), and modulus of elasticity (E, MPa) of natural rubber/butyl rubber NR/IIR blend have been investigated. The incorporation of 5 phr of TCNP into 30 phr CB-loaded NR/IIR composites results in the increased tensile strength value by about 60%. Finally, theoretical models were used to interpret the experimental results.