Hydrophobized MFC as Reinforcing Additive in Industrial Silica/SBR Tire Tread Compound.

Silica is used as reinforcing filler in the tire industry. Owing to the intensive process of silica production and its high density, substitution with lightweight bio-based micro fibrillated cellulose (MFC) is expected to provide lightweight, sustainable, and highly reinforced tire composite. MFC was modified with oleoyl chloride, and the degree of substitution (DS) was maintained between 0.

Dual-Silane Premodified Silica Nanoparticles-Synthesis and Interplay between Chemical, Mechanical, and Curing Properties of Silica-Rubber Nanocomposites: Application to Tire Tread Compounds.

In silica-rubber based nanocomposites, a single organo-silicon is often used to compatibilize and covalently link silica to rubber. In this work, we have investigated the impact, at micro- and macroscales, of the decoupling of the hydrophobization and the coupling activity of silane by pretreating silica with two different silane chemistries. The first one, a mercaptosilane, is the coupling agent that promotes a covalent link between silica and rubber during the sulfur-mediated vulcanization reaction.

Hybrid Silica-Based Fillers in Nanocomposites: Influence of Isotropic/Isotropic and Isotropic/Anisotropic Fillers on Mechanical Properties of Styrene-Butadiene (SBR)-Based Rubber.

The improvement of mechanical properties of polymer-based nanocomposites is usually obtained through a strong polymer-silica interaction. Most often, precipitated silica nanoparticles are used as filler. In this work, we study the synergetic effect occurring between dual silica-based fillers in a styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR)/polybutadiene (PBD) rubber matrix.

Supramolecular Dimerization in a Polymer Melt from Small-Angle X-Ray Scattering and Rheology: A Miscible Model System.

We present a structural and dynamic study on the simplest supramolecular hetero-association, recently investigated by the authors to prepare architectural homogeneous structures in the melt state, based on the bio-inspired hydrogen-bonding of thymine/diaminotriazine (thy-DAT) base-pairs. In the combination with an amorphous low T poly(butylene oxide) (PBO), no micellar structures are formed, which is expected for nonpolar polymers because of noncompatibility with the highly polar supramolecular groups. Instead, a clear polymer-like transient architecture is retrieved.

Decoupling the Contributions of ZnO and Silica in the Characterization of Industrially-Mixed Filled Rubbers by Combining Small Angle Neutron and X-Ray Scattering.

Scattering techniques with neutrons and X-rays are powerful methods for the investigation of the hierarchical structure of reinforcing fillers in rubber matrices. However, when using only X-ray scattering, the independent determination of the filler response itself sometimes remains an issue because of a strong parasitic contribution of the ZnO catalyst and activator in the vulcanization process. Microscopic characterization of filler-rubber mixtures even with only catalytic amounts of ZnO is, therefore, inevitably complex.

Tough Supramolecular Hydrogel Based on Strong Hydrophobic Interactions in a Multiblock Segmented Copolymer.

We report the preparation and structural and mechanical characterization of a tough supramolecular hydrogel, based exclusively on hydrophobic association. The system consists of a multiblock, segmented copolymer of hydrophilic poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and hydrophobic dimer fatty acid (DFA) building blocks. A series of copolymers containing 2K, 4K, and 8K PEG were prepared.