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Confinement effects at nanoscale in natural rubber composites: Influence on macroscopic properties
Author(s) -
Patanair Bindu,
Thomas Sabu,
Abitha V K,
SaiterFourcin Allisson
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.49838
Subject(s) - composite material , materials science , natural rubber , elastomer , nanocomposite , glass transition , nanoscopic scale , polymer , filler (materials) , matrix (chemical analysis) , cooperativity , nano , nanoparticle , nanotechnology , chemistry , biochemistry
The study of molecular level interactions in elastomer composites has got very scant attention even though a large number of studies are going on in this topic. This work embodies the understanding of confinement effects in natural rubber (NR)/ ZnO composites from micro to nano length scales, and their influence on macroscopic properties of the composites. The interactions between fillers and matrix are characterized from the Donth's approach, which allows estimating the cooperativity size N α at the glass transition, N α being directly related to the filler‐matrix interactions. The improved properties of NR‐nano ZnO composites can be attributed to microstructural and morphological changes due to nano ZnO in the NR matrix. A correlation between N α , the constrained volume C v and the thickness of immobilized polymer chains χ m at the glass transition has also been established. Thus, this work proves that the Donth's approach is a powerful probe to estimate the enhance of mechanical properties in nanocomposites from calorimetric investigations.