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Structural evolution during uniaxial deformation of natural rubber reinforced with nano‐alumina
Author(s) -
Nie Yijing,
Huang Guangsu,
Qu Liangliang,
Zhang Peng,
Weng Gengsheng,
Wu Jinrong
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
polymers for advanced technologies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.61
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1099-1581
pISSN - 1042-7147
DOI - 10.1002/pat.1709
Subject(s) - materials science , natural rubber , crystallite , crystallinity , composite material , synchrotron , deformation (meteorology) , nanoparticle , diffraction , carbon black , nano , nanotechnology , optics , physics , metallurgy
The mechanical properties of natural rubber (NR) were enhanced by the inclusion of nano‐alumina. In order to gain further insights into the reinforcement mechanism, synchrotron wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction (WAXD) was used to monitor the evolution of the molecular structure during stretching in real time, and the tube model theory was applied to study the effect of nanoparticles on rubber network. For the filled rubber, the onset strain of crystallization shifted to much lower value compared with that of the unfilled, indicating the presence of special strain amplification effect, which can be revealed by the reduction of configurational entropy. In addition, the crystallinity increased and the lateral crystallite size decreased after the addition of the nanofiller. During deformation, the crystallites of the filled rubber showed lower orientational fluctuations differing from that of NR reinforced by carbon black. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.