Abstract
In this research, the comparative studies on solubility and thermodynamics properties of natural rubber vulcanizates filled with blends of activated palm kernel shell and carbonized palm kernel shell has been investigated. Palm Kernel Shell (PKS) was locally sourced. washed and sun dried to remove accompanying and moisture. The PKS was then pulverized to particle size, carbonized at 600°C for one hour (1hr) using Carbolite furnaces and chemically activated using 0.1M H<sub>3</sub>PO<sub>4</sub> and 0.1M KOH solutions. The NR-filler loading concentrations of CB/APKS and CB/CPKS were compounded using two-roll mill. The solubility was done using three different solvents of water, kerosene and petrol respectively. The solubility results obtained for CB/APKS and CB/CPKS has no significance difference as the temperature varies when immersed in water. The solubility values observed for CB/APKS and CB/CPKS ranges from 1.06g to 1.19g and 1.03g to 1.19g across the samples respectively. This shows that since the filler is an organic substance, it has little or no affinity for water. In the case of kerosene and petrol, both are organics and the filler is an organic substance which follows the statement ‘like-dissolves-like’ as the temperature increases, the absorption of kerosene is lower than that of petrol. The results recorded for kerosene across the samples of CB/APKS and CB/CPKS ranges from 1.18g to 4.37g and 2.02g to 4.79g while the results for petrol ranges from 2.25g to 4.92g and 2.51g to 4.88g respectively. This may be due to the fact that petrol is volatile and flammable compared to kerosene. The results of the activation energy were a reflection of the solvent’s permeability except for water which showed contrary results. The results of the activation energy obtained for the three solvents across CB/APKS and CB/CPKS were 5.55 KJ/mol for water, kerosene with 9.48 KJ/mol and petrol with 13.61 KJ/mol respectively. The results observed for water might be due to its nature as the universal solvent being entirely different from other solvents in terms of reactivity and anomalous property. This means polar solvents dissolve polar molecules while nonpolar solvents dissolve nonpolar molecules. This research shows that both CB/APKS and CB/CPKS possess great potential in rubber system.
Highlights
Natural rubber exhibits the advantages of advanced elasticity, high strength, great toughness and manufacturing versatility
Solubility is the maximum amount of a substance that will dissolve in a given amount of solvent at a specific temperature
The results for mass uptakes of Carbon Black (CB)/Activated Palm Kernel Shells (APKS) Blends at 35°C, 45°C and 55°C at different time intervals are presented on Table 3
Summary
Natural rubber exhibits the advantages of advanced elasticity, high strength, great toughness and manufacturing versatility. The higher strength and greater toughness of rubber provides more powerful elastic qualities in some situations where most other elastic materials may fail. Due to these properties and its dependence, rubber shows excellent resistance towards cutting, tearing and abrasion. Rubber is relatively inert, resistant to the deteriorating effects arising from atmosphere and many chemicals It has a relatively long and useful life under a wide variety of conditions. Natural rubber when vulcanized possesses unique properties such as high tensile strength, comparatively low elongation, hardness and abrasion resistance which is useful in the manufacture of various products. They can be used in houses, foot wears, battery boxes, balloons, toys and so many others [1, 10]
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