Design and Preparation of Cross‐Linked Polystyrene Nanoparticles for Elastomer Reinforcement

Abstract

Cross-linked polystyrene (PS) particles in a latex form were synthesized by free radical emulsion polymerization. The nano-PS-filled elastomer composites were prepared by the energy-saving latex compounding method. Results showed that the PS particles took a spherical shape in the size of 40–60 nm with a narrow size distribution, and the glass-transition temperature of the PS nanoparticles increased with the cross-linking density. The outcomes from the mechanical properties demonstrated that when filled into styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR), nitrile-butadiene rubber (NBR), and natural rubber (NR), the cross-linked PS nano-particles exhibited excellent reinforcing capabilities in all the three matrices, and the best in the SBR matrix. In comparison with that of the carbon black filled composites, another distinguished advantage of the cross-linked PS particles filled elastomer composites was found to be light weight in density, which could help to save tremendous amount of energy when put into end products.

Preparation and Characterizations of Latex/Filler Nanocomposites

“…There are several methods on how these nanocomposites could be formed; which include melt intercalation [2], in-situ polymerization process [3], intercalation of solution [4], and also the compounding of latex [5]. Latex compounding and melt mixing methods have been combined and rampantly used especially in the rubber industry [5], since it is considerably more environmental-friendly because no organic solvents are present in the system and has high compatibility with the system that is currently used in industries.…”

Synergistically Improved Physico-Mechanical Properties of Nanopolystyrene-Viton Rubber Blends

“…Various polymer nanoparticles have been used to anlayze their effect on various properties such as mechanical, physical, thermal, mechano-chemical and curing behaviour of polymer and rubber-based nanocomposites and blends [1][2][3][4]. Polymer nanoparticles, such as nanopolystyrene (nPS), [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] have been synthesized by various emulsion polymerization approaches [2], such as seeded micro-emulsion [4], in-situ emulsion polymerization, atomized micro-emulsion [2,7,10,11], micro-emulsion polymerization [2,4,5,8,[12][13][14][15] with drop wise addition of monomer and other novel methods. Micro-emulsion polymerization has received much attention and it can be scaled up at the industrial level because of optimum use of surfactant [2] in micro-emulsion polymerization as compared to the conventional emulsion polymerization [6].…”

“…Micro-emulsion polymerization has received much attention and it can be scaled up at the industrial level because of optimum use of surfactant [2] in micro-emulsion polymerization as compared to the conventional emulsion polymerization [6]. The polymer nanoparticles have been used in paints, coatings, ceramic processing, agrochemical, surface treatment and biomedical sectors [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15].…”

“…The effect of polymer nanoparticles on rheological, thermal, and mechanical properties of linear low-density polyethylene was also studied [9]. The nPS structures have been incorporated to improve the mechanical properties of the polymer and rubber blends, such as polypropylene [2,5], nitrile-butadiene rubber [4], natural rubber [6], styrene-butadiene rubber, and other elastomers [7,8]. Curing is an important parameter which influences the mechanical, thermal and physical properties of elastomeric materials.…”

Continuous production of polymer nanoparticles using a membrane-based flow cell

“…Polymer nanoparticles find applications in drug delivery, medical imaging, structural colors, composites, and paints [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10]. Nanoparticle preparation methods include emulsion or micro-emulsion polymerization and precipitation from polymer solution [11,12,13,14].…”