• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.65-71
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• 2003

Influence of low molecular weight styrene-butadiene rubber (liquid SBR) on properties of a silica-filled styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) compounds was studied. Viscosity of the silica-filled SBR compound decreased by adding the liquid SBR. The crosslink density decreased and the cure rate became slower as the liquid SBR content increased. The modulus and tensile strength decreased while the elongation at break became longer by increasing the liquid SBR content. The abrasion losses were nearly the same irrespective of the liquid SBR content. This might be due to the improvement of silica dispersion by adding the liquid SBR. Considering the experimental results, it was believed that addition of small amount of the liquid SBR (less than 5 phr) was desirable to improve properties of silica-filled SBR compounds.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.252-259
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• 2009

Bifunctional silane (TESPD) is added into silica filled SBR compound and its effects with respect to the vulcanization properties, the processability, and the physical properties are investigated. The addition of the TESPD into silica filled SBR compound increases the degree of crosslinking by formation of a strong 3-dimensional network structure with silica surface via coupling reaction, which results in an improved mechanical property. It also improves the processabilities compared to the Control compound.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.217-223
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• 2002

Silica-filled rubber compounds show poor filler dispersion and slow cure characteristics compared to carbon black-filled ones. In general, a silica-filled rubber compound contains silane coupling agent (bis-(3-(triethoxysilyl)-propyl)-tetrasulfide, TESPT) and diphenylguanidine (DPG) to improve the filler dispersion and to make fast cure characteristics. Acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber (NBR) improves the filler dispersion in silica-filled styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) compounds. In this study, effect of NBR on the properties of silica-filled SBR compounds was investigated. Properties of the compounds which contain NBR without DPG or with small amount of TESPT (Compound A) were compared with those of the compounds which contain TESPT and DPG without NBR (Compound B). Scorch time of Compound A is faster than those of Compound B. Modulus and tensile strength of Comound A are slightly lower than those of Compound B. Traction property of the Comound A is better than that of the Compound B. Addition of NBR leads to reduction of the used amount of TESPT and DPG.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.10-18
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• 2006

Influence of low molecular weight polybutadiene (liquid PB) treated with maleic anhydride on properties of a silica-filled SBR compounds was studied. Silica dispersion was improved by adding liquid PB. The liquid PB treated with maleic anhydride (liquid MAPB) was found to be more effective for the improvement of silica dispersion than the liquid PB without maleic anhydride (liquid NPB). Viscosity of the SBR compound decreased by adding the liquid PB. The crosslink density decreased with increase of the liquid PB content and the cure rate became slower with increasing the liquid PB content. Considering the experimental results, it was believed that addition of small amount of the liquid PB (less than 5 phr) was desirable to improve properties of silica-filled SBR compounds.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.274-280
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• 1998

Order of reaction, rate constant, activation energy for vulcanization reaction, crosslinking density, and elastic constant of the network produced by sulfur curing were investigated on the SBR/BR blends containing silica and carbon black under same cure system. The reaction order was shown to be first order regardless of filler types. The carbon black filled rubber compounds showed higher rate constant compared to silica filled compounds. But activation energy appeared to be same regardless of filler type and rubber blend ratio. The crosslinking density and elastic constant is higher in the carbon black filled compound compared to silica filled compounds because of strong interaction between rubber and carbon black. On the other hand, crosslinking density and elastic constant were decreased with increasing the butadine rubber content in rubber blends. From the comparison of combined sulfur content in the vulcanized rubber, sulfur content in the silica filled compound become constant 20min later after reaction initiates but sulfur content in the carbon black filled compound become constant 10min later after reaction starts. The silica compound has a longer induction time ($t_2$) and optimum cure time($t_{90}$) compared to those of the carbon black filled compound.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.54 no.1
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• pp.54-60
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• 2019

The rapid development of the automobile industry is an important factor that led to the dramatic development of synthetic rubber. The tread part of tire that comes in direct contact with the road surface is related to the service life of the tire. Rubber compounds used in tire treads are often blended with SBR (styrene-butadiene rubber) and BR (butadiene rubber) to satisfy physical property requirements. However, when two or more kinds of rubber are blended, phase separation and silica dispersion problems may occur due to non-uniform mixing of the rubber. Therefore, in this study, we synthesized an SBR copolymer with the same composition as that of a typical SBR/BR blend compound by controlling butadiene content during ESBR (emulsion styrene-butadiene rubber) synthesis. Subsequently, silica filled compounds were manufactured using the synthesized ESBR, and their mechanical properties, dynamic viscoelasticity, and crosslinking density were compared with those of the SBR/BR blended compound. When the content of butadiene was increased in the silica filled compound, the cure rate accelerated due to an increased number of allylic positions, which typically exhibit higher reactivity. However, the T-2 compound with increased butadiene content by synthesis less likely to show an increase in crosslink density due to poor silica dispersion. In addition, the T-3 compound containing high cis BR content showed high crosslink density due to its monosulfide crosslinking structure. Because of the phase separation, SBR/BR blend compounds were easily broken and showed similar $M_{100%}$ and $M_{300%}$ values as those of other compounds despite their high crosslink density. However, the developed blend showed excellent abrasion resistance due to the high cis-1,4 butadiene content and low rolling resistance due to the high crosslink density.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.162-168
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• 2001

Low molecular weight polybutadiene (liquid BR) improves the filler dispersion in a silica-filled styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) compound. In the present work, influence of molecular weight or the liquid BR on properties of a silica-filled SBR compound was studied. Minimum and maximum torques in the rheocurve for the compound containing the liquid BR with higher molecular weight (HLBR) are lower than those for the compound containing the liquid BR with lower one (LLBR) while the delta torques are nearly the same. Mooney scorch time of the compound containing HLBR is faster than that of the compound containing LLBR. Modulus or the compound containing HLBR is lower than that of the compound containing LLBR while tensile strength of the former is higher than that of the latter. The elongation at break of the former is also longer than that of the latter. Stability for the thermal aging at $90^{\circ}C$ for 3 days is less favorable for the former than for the latter.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.58 no.3
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• pp.103-111
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• 2023

The abrasion resistances of silica-filled styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) compounds prepared with and without dicyclopentadiene resin (SBR-R and SBR-0, respectively) were studied using four different abrasion testers, namely cut and chip (CC), Lambourn, DIN, and laboratory abrasion tester (LAT100). The effect of the resin on the abrasion behavior was elucidated by analyzing the morphologies and size distributions of wear particles. All the wear particles had rough surfaces, but those obtained in the Lambourn abrasion test exhibited relatively smooth surfaces. The size distributions of the wear particles showed different trends depending on the abrasion tester and the rubber compound; however, most of the wear particles were larger than 1000 ㎛. The SBR-R sample showed a wide range of particle sizes (from 63 ㎛) in the LAT100 abrasion test and majority of the wear particles were 500-1000 ㎛, whereas the SBR-0 sample had the most distribution of larger than 1000 ㎛. The abrasion rates of SBR-0 sample were lower than those of the SBR-R sample for the CC and LAT100 abrasion tests, but the Lambourn abrasion test result showed the opposite trend. Addition of the resin influenced the abrasion behavior, however the effect varied depending on the type of abrasion tests.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.8 no.6
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• pp.285-291
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• 2000

Influence of silane coupling agent, bis-(3-(triethoxisilyl)-propyl)-tetrassulfide, on cure characteristics and bound rubber content of filled styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) compounds and on physical properties of the vulcanizates was studied. Carbon black-filled and silica-filled compounds were compared. Content of the bound rubber increased with increased content of the silane coupling agent and this trend was shown more clearly in the silica-filled compounds. Optimum cure time of the carbon black-filled compound increased with increase of the silane content, while that of the silica-filled one decreased. Cure rate of the carbon black-filled compound became slower as the silane content increased while that of the silica-filled one became faster. By increasing the silane content, the minimum torque decreased and the delta torque increased. Physical properties of the silica-filled vulcanizate were found to be improved by adding the silane coupling agent. However, for the carbon black-filled vulcanizates, the tensile strength and tear resistance decreased with increase of the silane content. The differences between the carbon black-filled and silica-filled compounds were explained by difference in the reactivities of the fillers with the silane.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.53 no.2
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• pp.39-47
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• 2018

Styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) is widely used in tire treads due to its excellent abrasion resistance, braking performance, and reasonable cost. Depending on the polymerization method, SBR is classified into solution-polymerized SBR (SSBR) and emulsion-polymerized SBR (ESBR). ESBR is less expensive and environmentally friendlier than SSBR because it uses water as a solvent. A higher molecular weight is also easier to obtain in ESBR, which has advantages in mechanical properties and tire performance. In ESBR polymerization, a surfactant is added to create an emulsion system with a hydrophobic monomer in the water phase. However, some amount of surfactant remains in the ESBR during coagulation, making the polymer chains in micelles clump together. As a result, it is well-known that residual surfactant adversely affects the physical properties of silica-filled ESBR compounds. However, researches about the effect of residual surfactant on the physical properties of ESBR are lacking. Therefore, in this study we compared the effects of remaining surfactant in ESBR on the mechanical properties of silica-filled and carbon black-filled compounds. The crosslinking density and filler-rubber interaction are also analyzed by using the Flory-Rehner theory and Kraus equation. In addition, the effects of surfactant on the mechanical properties and crosslinking density are compared with the effects of TDAE oil (a conventional processing aid).