Styrene butadiene rubber/aluminum powder composites—mechanical, morphological and electrical behaviors

Abstract

Different weight fractions of aluminum (Al) powder viz., 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 and 70 phr were incorporated into styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) matrix. The Al powder filled and vulcanized SBR composites have been characterized for mechanical properties such as tensile strength, tensile modulus and surface hardness. A drastical improvement in tensile strength and tensile modulus with increase in filler content of the composites was noticed. The electrical properties such as dielectric constant, tan delta and dielectric loss were measured for all the four compositions. The effect of volume fraction (0–70 phr) of conducting filler, frequency (100 kHz–30 MHz), temperature (25–75°C) and relative humidity on dielectric constant, dielectric loss and tan delta values of the composites were studied.