Determination of Aging behavior of natural Rubber Nanocomposites reinforced with Mica prepared by Latex or Melt mixing Technology

The aim was to research the aging behavior of natural rubber compositions (NR) with synthetic mica by chemiluminescence (CL), in comparison with the traditional test of accelerated aging in forced air circulation with respect to the stress strain properties. Sodium fluorohectorite (Somasif ME 100) was the type of synthetic mica studied. Its incorporation into NR was carried out by means of different methods, via melt mixing and latex mixing. The influence of the used methods of processing for incorporating mica as filler into the NR were also investigated, followed by determining the best filler content for the best performance concerning the tensile test after accelerated aging. The rubber compositions prepared by melt mixing proved to be more resistant against oxidation. All data were compared with the unfilled compound as reference.