The reinforcing mechanism study of carbon nanotube in the NR matrix

The reinforcement mechanism of CNT in rubber matrix is an important and interesting subject. In this paper, carboxyled multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNT) were used to prepare natural rubber (NR) nanocomposites (CNT/NR). CNT/NR composites were formed by mechanical blending method and the properties such as tensile strength, tensile modulus, tear strength, elongation at break and hardness were studied. The results of Mechanical property show that the physical property of NR filled with 9 phr CNT (CNT/NR-9) is similar to that with 30 phr carbon black (CB) (CB/NR-30). In addition, the dispersion and interaction between CNT and NR were also studied by scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscope, dynamic mechanical testing system and bound-rubber analysis. According to the results, CNT is considered to exhibit random orientations and form “string bag” structure in rubber matrix and the reinforcement mechanism of CNT is different to that of CB.