The rubber damper reinforced by modified silica fume (mSF) as an alternative reinforcing filler in rubber industry

Silica fume (SF) is a by-product from the production of ferrosilicon alloy which it can be purified. The surface of SF is treated with bis (3-triethoxysilylpropyl) tetrasulphide (TESPT) to obtain modified silica fume (mSF) as reinforcing filler. FTIR and TGA results confirmed that TESPT can successfully treated onto the surface of SF. The effect of surface treatment by TESPT and mSF content on the cure characteristics and rubber mechanical properties are investigated; as compared with SF and unfilled natural rubber. Results reveal that, the mSF affects not only fast cure rate, but also improve rubber mechanical properties. Additionally, the mSF and SF are incorporated into the natural rubber to produce rubber damper and then study the rubber product performance such as static spring rate and durability property. The mSF seems effective in improving the stiffness and crack resistance of rubber damper more than SF which is due to enhancing the degree of crosslink density. It can be proved that mSF as alternative reinforcing filler in rubber industry.