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Natural rubber‐carbon black coagulation: Following the nanostructure evolution from a colloidal suspension to a composite
Author(s) -
Cattinari Gianluca,
Steenkeste Karine,
Bris Catherine,
Canette Alexis,
Gallopin Matthieu,
Couty Marc,
FontaineAupart MariePierre
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.50221
Subject(s) - carbon black , materials science , composite number , agglomerate , natural rubber , suspension (topology) , nanostructure , composite material , scanning electron microscope , sonication , chemical engineering , coagulation , colloid , nanotechnology , psychology , mathematics , homotopy , psychiatry , pure mathematics , engineering
Making elastomeric composite materials via heteroaggregation of a binary colloidal suspension of Natural Rubber (NR) latex and Carbon Black (CB) filler is an interesting production method to obtain an efficient dispersion in the polymer matrix. This study successfully employs an original approach of field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) to investigate for the first time the nanostructure evolution of a coagulum originated from the aggregation of NR globules with CB filler in suspension. More specifically, we exploited a chemical fixation method allowing simultaneous acquisition of backscattered electron (BSE) and secondary electron (SE) imaging modes. Additionally, the role of external physical stresses, like mechanical shear and sonication was also investigated in terms of structural effect induced on the formed coagulum at the nanoscopic scale. Our results highlight destabilization of NR globules, either induced by direct interaction with small CB aggregates or governed by solvent evaporation. Reduction in the size of CB agglomerates, obtained using sonication, highly improved filler distribution and confirmed that the size of CB aggregates is an important parameter responsible for the destabilization of NR globules.