A series of rubber compounds filled with carbon blacks and silica has been studied by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The microdispersion of carbon black aggregates in rubber compounds can be clearly observed. The surface morphology of worn treads after road testing studied by AFM is also reported.

The microdispersion state of carbon blacks in an emulsion SBR matrix has been observed by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and the images analyzed quantitatively. The fillers were well dispersed in the rubber samples. Different parameters, such as the surface fraction of fillers in images, particle size distance distributions, have been extracted and the main results are presented.