Synergetic effect of aramid nanofiber‐graphene oxide hybrid filler on the properties of rubber compounds for tire tread application

Abstract

The properties of rubber compounds used in tire tread largely contribute to the overall performance of tires in vehicles. Among the various ingredients used, reinforcing fillers are known for having the most significant effect on the static and dynamic properties of rubber compounds. In this work, two strong nanoscale materials, aramid nanofibers (ANFs) and graphene oxides (GOs), are modified using a silane coupling agent and combined to form a novel hybrid filler. The functionalized ANF/GO (fANF/GO) hybrid filler is obtained by adding functionalized GOs (fGOs) into functionalized ANFs (fANFs). The fANF/GO reinforced rubber compounds are then fabricated and tested to investigate the effect of the novel hybrid filler on mechanical and dynamic mechanical properties. The prepared rubber compounds using hybrid fillers exhibit improved mechanical properties and abrasion resistance compared to rubber compounds only reinforced using fANF or fGO alone and reference compounds. Moreover, dynamic mechanical analysis reveals a 21.8% decrease in the rolling resistance of fANF/GO reinforced rubber samples while preserving wet grip performance. Thus, this research demonstrates the potential of the ANFs and GOs-based functionalized hybrid fillers for the application of high-performance tire treads.

Preparation and properties of SBR/PPTA nanocomposite via in‐situ interfacial polycondensation

“…This is because of the covalent bonds and π–π electron conjugation effects between the amide bond and benzene ring, which promotes the crystal growth along the A‐axis direction and strengthens in the (200) direction. Intermolecular hydrogen bonds promote PPTA growth along the (110) crystalline phase 28 . These XRD patterns showed the presence of PPTA in SBR matrix.…”

“…Intermolecular hydrogen bonds promote PPTA growth along the (110) crystalline phase. 28 These XRD patterns showed the presence of PPTA in SBR matrix.…”

“…The two reinforcing materials work together to enhance the mechanical properties of SBR rubber. 24,28,34 From SBR/PPTA-1 to SBR/PPTA-3 (Figure 7a, b and Table 3), the tensile strength and 200% tensile stress increased gradually compared with Pure SBR, and the elongation at break decreased successively. The introduction of PPTA improves the strength of SBR, but slightly reduces its toughness.…”

Aramid nanofibers-based multidimensional structure

“…ANFs have been paid attention to and studied as nano polymer fillers due to their higher aspect ratio than other nanomaterials such as nanocarbon, and nanocellulose for high-performance reinforcement composite based on polyurethane, rubber, and epoxy. [4][5][6][7] Moreover, as the nano building block material, many studies on nanocomposite with multidimensional structures based on the ANF matrix have been reported. In order to fabricate the multidimensional structure, diverse polymer structure manufacturing processes such as wet and dry spinning, suspension casting, vacuum filtration, freeze-drying, and additive manufacturing are able to be applied.…”

Carbon Nanotubes Networking in Styrene‐Butadiene Rubber: A Dynamic Mechanical and Dielectric Spectroscopy Study

“…Finally, master curves were generated for all the compounds at 0 °C, which is a temperature with technical relevance in the tire industry due to its relationship with wet grip efficiency. [26][27][28] The vertical shift factor applied to each isothermal curve allowed to estimate the activation energy associated with the mobility of those chains attached on the filler surface (bound rubber).…”