Properties of unmodified and modified natural rubber/halloysite nanotubes composites

Abstract

Modified natural rubber was prepared by grafting the maleic anhydride (MA) onto natural rubber (NR) or socalled maleated natural rubbers (MNR). MNR was prepared in a molten state with varying MA content from 2 - 6 phr and then compounded with the fixed amount of HNT. In this work, the filler-filler and filler-rubber interactions of the MNR and halloysite nanotubes (HNT) were investigated. The MNR with 4 phr of MA showed the lowest filler-filler interaction as indicated by a decrease of storage modulus upon an increase of strain in the filled compound i.e., Payne effect. This MNR compound also yielded the optimum tensile strength. It has been demonstrated that a use of MNR with appropriate MA content can reduce filler-filler interaction dramatically and hence improves a HNT dispersion, resulting in an enhancement of the tensile and dynamical properties.