Vulcanizate Structures of NR Compounds with Silica and Carbon Black Binary Filler Systems at Different Curing Temperatures

Abstract

There is an increasing demand for the rolling resistance reduction in truck bus radial (TBR) tires in the tire industry. In TBR tires, natural rubber is used as a base polymer to prevent wear and satisfy required physical properties (cut and chip). A binary filler system (silica and carbon black) is used to balance the durability of the tire and rolling resistance performance. In this study, natural rubber (NR) compounds applied with a binary filler system were manufactured at different cure temperatures for vulcanizate structure analysis. The vulcanizate structures were categorized into carbon black bound rubber, silica silane rubber network, and chemical crosslink density by sulfur. Regardless of the cure temperature, the crosslink density per unit content of carbon black had a greater effect on the properties than silica due to affinity with NR. The relationship analysis between the mechanical, viscoelastic properties with vulcanizate structure could be a guideline for manufacturing practical TBR compounds.