PREPARATION AND PROPERTIES OF NATURAL RUBBER/ LAYERED DOUBLE HYDROXIDE NANOCOMPOSITES

Abstract

Nanocomposites of natural rubber (NR)/organo ZnAllayered double hydroxide (ZnAl LDH-DS) were successfully synthesized and characterized. A hydrophilic Zn-Allayered double hydroxide (ZnAl LDH-N03·) was converted into the organophilic form by replacing the nitrate ion in between the ZnAl LDH-N0 3· with dodecylsulfate ion (DS) to form ZnAl LDH-DS. The melt intercalation technique followed by vulcanization process was adopted to synthesize the nanocomposites ofNRJZnAl LDH-DS. Intercalation ofDS ion into the interlayerofZnAl LDH-N03• increased the surface area and the porosity of the LDH. X-Ray diffractogram of the organophilic ZnA1 LDH-DS shows that the basal spacing of the ZnAl LDH-N03- expands from 0.89 to 253 nm due to the accommodation of DS ion in the intergallery. After the compounding process with the NR, the basal spacing ofZnAl LDH-DS in the composites is increased to 3.90 and 327 nm when the ZnA1 LDH-DS contents were 1 and 15 phr, respectively. Transmission electron microscope image revealed that the ZnAl LDH-DS was distributed in the NR matrix in such a way of exfoliated and different grade of intercalated. The tensile strength values of NRI ZnAl LDH-DS (nanocomposites) were found to be higher than that of the NRIZnAl LDH-N03- (macrocomposites).