Tunable Van der Waals interfacial interaction for ultrahigh-damping rubber bends

Abstract

High-damping rubber materials are of crucial significance for realizing high-performance green tire due to their contributions in noise and vibration reduction, auto-braking, and service life. However, the polarity difference and mismatched surface energy significantly reduce the interfacial interaction and compatibility between non-polar tread rubber materials and polar polymers. Herein, we fabricated a multi-functionalization high vinyl polybutadiene rubber (MFHVBR)/ethylene-vinyl acetate rubber (EVM) blend by simple mechanical blending. The incorporation of polar functional groups could increase the surface energy of MFHVBR, which was beneficial for regulating the interfacial compatibility and van der Waals interaction between non-polar rubber matrix and polar polymer matrix. A quantitative correspondence between van der Waals interaction and damping properties was determined. The optimized MFHVBR/EVM blends showed ultrahigh damping properties with an effective damping temperature range of −12.4–62.6 °C, which totally covered the service temperature of tires. The effective damping temperature range width of 75 °C was among the highest value of reported high-damping rubber materials. Meanwhile, the vulcanization efficiencies and physical mechanical properties were obviously improved. Collectively, the developed strategy herein and the proposed surface energy-performance relationship suggest a feasible pathway toward low-cost and high-performance green tire tread rubber materials.