Revealing the nanoscale reinforcing mechanism: How topological structure of carbon black clusters influence the mechanics of rubber

The mechanical reinforcement of rubber by carbon black (CB) depends strongly on its the size and topography of CB clusters. However, the underlying mechanisms remain largely unexplored. This study uses atomic force microscopy (AFM) to probe interfacial properties at the nanoscale to elucidate the in...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Composites science and technology 2024-11, Vol.258, p.110847, Article 110847
Main Authors: Tian, Chenchen, Liu, Xinyang, Kou, Jingjie, Wang, Chao, Xu, Lin, Ning, Nanying, Lu, Chao, Tian, Ming
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
(B) Interface
(C) Stress transfer
(D) Atomic force microscopy (AFM)
A) Nano composites
Filler network
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Summary:The mechanical reinforcement of rubber by carbon black (CB) depends strongly on its the size and topography of CB clusters. However, the underlying mechanisms remain largely unexplored. This study uses atomic force microscopy (AFM) to probe interfacial properties at the nanoscale to elucidate the influence of the CB topological structure on macroscopic mechanical properties. A substantial amount of high-modulus bound rubber is found inside the CB aggregates, particularly in highly branched ones. This phenomenon plays a critical role in reinforcement, as corroborated by quantitative AFM nanomechanics, chain segment motion results and theoretical calculations. A quantitative analysis of the filler network reveals that the branched chain structure effectively reduces the packing spacing and improves the stress transfer efficiency. [Display omitted]
ISSN:0266-3538
DOI:10.1016/j.compscitech.2024.110847