Impact of α‐cellulose as a green filler on physico‐mechanical properties of a solution grade styrene‐butadiene rubber based tire‐tread compound

Abstract

AbstractPhysico‐mechanical and dynamic mechanical properties of typical solution grade styrene‐butadiene rubber (S‐SBR) and polybutadiene rubber (PBR) based tire‐tread compound were investigated by partially replacing highly dispersible (HD) silica with naturally occurring α‐cellulose. Fourier transform infrared spectrum detected abundance of hydroxyl group in α‐cellulose, which has created keenness to investigate its reinforcement characteristics in an S‐SBR and PBR based compound. Scanning electron microscope and transmission electron microscope were employed to investigate the microstructure and dispersion of α‐cellulose at higher magnification. Thermo‐gravimetric analysis was performed to understand the degradation behavior of α‐cellulose. Differential scanning calorimeter was engaged to detect phase transition and degree of purity of α‐cellulose. An increase in cure rate was observed with partial replacement of HD silica by α‐cellulose. The cure rate index was increased by 13% over control one at 10% replacement of silica with α‐cellulose. It was noticed that at an optimum level of replacement (10%), α‐cellulose containing compounds exhibited lower viscoelastic energy dissipation (both loss modulus [E″] and loss tangent [tan δ]) at the slight expense of tensile moduli. Beside these, substitution of silica with α‐cellulose found to have no effect on wet grip property of the compounds.