Mechanical strength of natural rubber filled fly ash

Abstract

© Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd. In this present work, Fly ash was incorporated into natural rubber to form a natural rubber composite. The natural rubber composite was prepared by solution mixing method at the constant amount of fly ash at 80 phr. The fly ash particle was modified its surface by TESPT silane coupling agent before mixing with natural rubber latex. The surface morphology of natural rubber composites were examined by SEM image. The vulcanization parameters were examined by MDR technique. The results show that modified fly ash affects to natural rubber compound by shorten the vulcanization time and increase maximum torque. The mechanical properties were investigated from stress-strain curve. It reveals that the surface modification of fly ash improves tensile strength of natural rubber by 6 times. The increasing of strength may attribute to the formation of polymer-fillers interaction through TESPT molecules.