Experimental and theoretical investigation of mechanical and rheological properties of compatibilized XNBR/NR/GO nanocomposites

Abstract

In this research, nanocomposites based on carboxylated nitrile rubber (XNBR)/natural rubber (NR) with different concentrations of graphene oxide (GO) were prepared by melt mixing method. The role of XNBR-grafted maleic anhydride (XNBR-g-GMA) as a compatibilizer and the effect of GO content on the morphological, mechanical, rheological, and vulcanization properties were evaluated. It was observed that with increasing the concentration of GO, the scorch and vulcanization time decreased, while the torque of the samples increased. Morphological studies illustrated that by raising the concentration of GO in the presence of a compatibilizer, the fracture surface of nanocomposites became rougher and the average size of dispersed phase decreased. In addition, the presence of XNBR-g-GMA compatibilizer improved the uniform dispersion of GO within the XNBR/XNBR-g-GMA/NR matrix. The mechanical properties of nanocomposites showed the best results for XNBR/NR with a ratio of 75/25. Theoretical studies on the mechanical and rheological properties of nanocomposites performed by Mori-Tanaka and Carreau-Yasuda models and illustrated a good agreement with experimental data.