Mesoporous silica reinforced polybutadiene rubber hybrid composite

Polybutadiene rubber (BR) hybrid composites reinforced with mesoporous silica (MPS)/nanoclays, silica and MPS/carbon black were prepared. The primary focus of this research was to incorporate the mesoporous silicate (MPS), e.g., mobil composition of matter (MCM-41) as reinforcing filler in the BR matrix. The textural properties of the mesoporous materials were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy and N2 isothermal adsorption measurements. The quantity of MCM-41 in the BR matrix was first optimized and the similar optimized quantity of different MPS was compared in terms of tensile strength. The composites were characterized by XRD and scanning electron microscopy. The composite containing 10 phr-loaded MCM-41 showed 250 % improvement in tensile strength compared to the matrix devoid of nanomaterial. The effects of co-incorporation of two different kinds of nanomaterials having different nanostructures, e.g., layered montmorillonite and particulate MCM-41 were also studied. MCM-41 enhanced the mechanical strength of BR almost double the value compared to precipitated silica at the same filler loading. The morphological features of the composites were well corroborated with the mechanical properties.