Vulcanization kinetics study of rubber compounds having different fillers particle size

Abstract

Vulcanization kinetic of rubber compounds with efficient vulcanization system was studied through observation of torque curves data from a Gotech Moving Die Rheometer at 413 K and 423 K. Several compounds were prepared by varying size of the fillers particle. The effects of particle size of the silica filler in the formulations on the cure characteristics and cure kinetic parameters have been investigated. The results on kinetic data showed that the model by Deng-Isayev was able to describe the curing behaviour of the studied compounds satisfactorily. The fitting of the experimental data with Deng-Isayev provide a good platform to investigate the cure kinetics of the BR-SBR compound. Smaller particle sizes of filler silica gave larger reaction rate constant. In this case, the undersize filler (USF) gave faster vulcanization rate than that of the oversize filler (OSF) sample.