Xanthate-modified nanoTiO2 as a novel vulcanization accelerator enhancing mechanical and antibacterial properties of natural rubber

Abstract

With the emerging of sustainability, the fabrication of effective and eco-friendly agents for rubber industry has attracted extensive attention. In this study, a novel and nontoxic titanium dioxide-based vulcanization accelerator (xanthate-modified nanotitanium dioxide (TDSX)) with excellent antibacterial performance, for the first time, was synthesized under the catalyst of ceric ammonium nitrate. Notably, the thermal stability of xanthate was greatly enhanced after being grafted on titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles, in which the activation energy was increased from 6.4 to 92.5 kJ/mol, enabling the obtained TDSX with multiple functions, mainly consisting of fabulous vulcanization-promoting effects, reinforcing effects, antibacterial properties, and anti-ultraviolet aging effects for natural rubber (NR). Simultaneously, the TDSX can be effectively and uniformly dispersed in the rubber matrix along with the developed interface interaction between TDSX particles and rubber matrix. Compared to the traditional accelerators 2-mercaptobenzothiazole (M) system, the tensile strength and the tearing strength of NR/TDSX was improved by 26.3 and 40.4%, respectively. Potentially, our work for preparing green vulcanization accelerator can provide a new design strategy for multifunctional high performance elastomer materials.