Influence of fillers dispersion on friction and wear performance of solution styrene butadiene rubber composites

Development of structure-properties relationships between the fillers/rubber matrix interface chemistry and the dispersion and interfacial adhesion properties of the rubber composites is critical to predict their bulk mechanical and tribological properties. In this paper, three solution styrene butadiene rubber (SSBR) composites containing various fillers with tailored interfacial chemistry were prepared via conventional mixing technique. Subsequently, thermal and structural features of filled SSBR composites were monitored by TG, DSC, XRD, XPS, FESEM and TEM, respectively. Sliding contact experiments were conducted to study tribological properties of styrene butadiene rubber composites under dry and wet conditions. It was shown that the SSBR filled with silicon dioxide nanoparticles significantly reduced both the friction coefficient and the wear against marble block. On the contrary, it exhibited an increased friction coefficient and wear under wet friction conditions due to the specific superior wet-skid resistance of silicon dioxide nanopartilce filled rubber composites, a good dispersion of silicon dioxide nanopartilce in the rubber matrix and strong interfacial adhesion between nanoparticles and rubber matrix. In addition, the influence of fillers dispersion and interfacial adhesion on friction and wear of styrene butadiene rubber composites was evaluated employing theoretical calculation, and the predicted results were in agreement with the experimental observations. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016, 133, 43589.