Utilization of Porous Carbons Derived from Coconut Shell and Wood in Natural Rubber

The porous carbons derived from cellulose are renewable and environmentally friendly. Coconut shell and wood derived porous carbons were characterized with elemental analysis, ash content, X-ray diffraction, infrared absorbance, particle size, surface area, and pore volume. The results were compared with carbon black. Uniaxial deformation of natural rubber (NR) composites indicate the composites reinforced with the porous carbon from coconut shell have higher tensile moduli at the same elongation ratio than the composites reinforced with wood carbon. 40 % coconut shell composite showed a fivefold increase in tensile modulus compared to NR. Polymer-filler interactions were studied with frequency dependent shear modulus, swelling experiments and dynamic strain sweep experiments. Both linear and non-linear viscoelastic properties indicate the polymer-filler interactions are similar between coconut shell carbon and wood carbon reinforced composites. The swelling experiments, however, showed that the polymer-filler interaction is greater in the composites reinforced with coconut shell instead of wood carbon.