Mechanical Properties of Styrene-Butadiene Rubber Reinforced with Silica by in situ Tetraethoxysilane Hydrolysis over Acid Catalyst

Abstract

Styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR), reinforced with different contents of silica (with or without modification using silane coupling agents), was prepared by a modified sol-gel method involving hydrolyzation of tetraethoxysilane over an acid catalyst. The structures of the as-prepared samples were characterized using various techniques, such as scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis. The mechanical properties of the as-prepared samples were discussed in detail. The results revealed an increasing of the storage modulus (G’) with increase in the silica content without modification. In contrast, G’ decreased after modification using silane coupling agents, indicating a reduction in the silica-silica interaction and improved dispersion of silica in the SBR matrix. Both tensile stress and hardness increased with increase in the silica content (with modification) in the SBR matrix, albeit with low values compared to the samples with un-modified silica, except for the case of silica modified using (3-glycidyloxypropyl) trimethoxysilane (GPTS). The latter observation can be attributed to the special structure of GPTS and the effort of oxygen atom lone-pair.