Interaction Between Fumed-Silica and Epoxidized Natural Rubber

Epoxidized natural rubber (ENR)/fumed silica vulcanizates were prepared by mechanical mixing method. Fumed silica content can affect mechanical properties of the composites, and ten parts per hundreds of rubber (phr) fumed silica lead to the best tensile strength. The interaction between ENR and fumed silica was characterized by Kraus equation, crosslink density (tested by NMR), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The results showed that the dispersion of silica in ENR was better than in natural rubber (NR), hydrogen bond was produced between ENR and fumed-silica in ENR/silica blends, and glass transition temperature of ENR/silica vulcanizate was higher than pure ENR vulcanizate. TGA and DMA confirmed that there was intense interaction between ENR and silica.