The effect of silica nanoparticles on the mechanical and self healingproperties of ENR/silica nanocomposites

The development of self-healing elastomers with proper mechanical properties is a sustainable strategy to extendthe lifetime of rubber parts. The use of reinforcing fillers or applying a full crosslinking network, though beinguseful for mechanical properties, restricts polymer chain motion and acts as barriers for the self-healing mechanism.Optimizing improvement in mechanical properties and the healing efficiency is here tackled by using silica typeshaving various specific surface area (i.e. Aerosil ۲۰۰, Aerosil OX۵۰) at low (۵ phr) and high (۳۰ phr) level ofloading within a matrix of the epoxidized natural rubber (ENR). Under the experimental conditions, pristine ENRshowed a healing efficiency of ۵۳ % at ۶۰ °C. Results indicated that Aerosil OX۵۰ with its micron-sized nature at۳۰ phr of loading has a higher healing tensile behavior compared to other systems. Filler network formation by thenanoscale silica (i.e. Aerosil ۲۰۰) at high filler loading (i.e. ۳۰ phr) severely restricted the chain mobility, impartsan excellent mechanical properties but impedes the healing performance.

کلیدواژه ها:

Self Healing ، Mechanical Properties ، Epoxidized Natural Rubber ، Silica