Effect of Carbon Black Substitution with Raw and Modified Bentonite on the Thermal Aging Resistance of Natural Rubber Composites

Abstract

The effect of carbon black (CB) substitution with raw (BNT) and modified (M-BNT) bentonite on the thermal aging resistance of natural rubber (NR) composites was investigated in this study. NR composites were prepared at varied proportions of CB, M-BNT, and BNT using a three-component, third degree simplex lattice mixture design of experiment (DOE). M-BNT was produced by modifying sodium-activated bentonite with tetradecyldimethylamine (TDA) salt and cocamide diethanolamine (CDEA). Thermal aging was performed at 70 and 100°C for 168 and 336 h. Substitution of CB with 5 phr M-BNT gave the highest values of tensile properties (modulus and strength) for both unaged and aged samples. This is attributed to the synergistic effect of CB and M-BNT fillers on the tensile properties of NR composites. In terms of property retention (%), composites filled with M-BNT and BNT clay fillers attained the highest values which signified their excellent thermal aging resistance. This observation proves the barrier effect of clay platelet structure which hinders oxygen diffusion in the rubber. Reduced hierarchical models as function of CB, M-BNT, and BNT proportions were used to generate contour plots for tensile properties of NR composites after 168 h of aging at 70 and 100°C.