Potential Application of Rubber-Graphene Compounds in the Automotive Parts

Abstract

<div class="section abstract"><div class="htmlview paragraph">Rubber is one of the most used materials currently selected to produce automotive parts, but, for specific applications, some improvement is required in its properties through the addition of some components to the rubber compound formulation. Because of that, mechanical, thermal, and chemical properties are enhanced in order to meet strict requirements of the vast range of application of the rubber compounds. In addition to improving material properties, the combination of different substances, also aims to improve processability and reduce the costs of the final product. Recently, the use of nanofillers has been very explored because of their distinctive properties and characteristics. Among the nanofillers under study, graphene is known for its high-barrier property, thermal and electrical conductivities, and good mechanical properties. A large number of researches on rubber/graphene compounds preparation methods and applications can be found in literature and results are promising, including for rubbers largely used in automotive industry, such as acrylonitrile butadiene rubber (NBR), natural rubber (NR) styrene butadiene (SBR), butyl rubber (IIR), and ethylene-propylene-diene (EPDM). The observed improvements obtained with the addition of graphene in rubbers can have a good impact on durability and performance of a lot of different rubber automotive parts, such seals, hoses, tires, and anti-vibration parts. This work is an overview about rubber-graphene compounds, bringing aspects of preparation methods and some final characteristics that can be valuable for automotive industry, such as mechanical and chemical resistance, and barrier property.</div></div>