The Influence of Bleached Jute Fiber Filler on the Properties of Vulcanized Natural Rubber

There is growing interest in replacing the synthetic reinforcements used for natural rubber (NR) composites with natural fibers from renewable, environmentally sustainable sources. Jute fibers may be suitable reinforcements for NR because they have a high tensile strength, which is comparable to other fillers such as glass fibers. Thus, we studied the incorporation of bleached jute fibers into NR, characterizing the mechanical, dynamic mechanical, and morphological properties of the composites. The addition of fibers to the NR latex was achieved by chemical coagulation, followed by vulcanization in a laboratory two-roll mixing mill. The elastic modulus at 100 and 300% elongation of the NR doubled after the addition of 10 phr of fibers without significant loss in the tensile strength or the elongation at break. The hardness was increased by 47%, and the storage modulus also increased, indicating the excellent interactions between the surfaces of the fibers and the NR matrix.

当前，学界日益关注采用可再生、环境友好型天然纤维，替代天然橡胶（natural rubber, NR）复合材料中使用的合成增强材料。黄麻纤维（jute fibers）或可作为天然橡胶的理想增强材料，因其具备较高的拉伸强度，可与玻璃纤维等常用填料相媲美。为此，本研究将漂白黄麻纤维掺入天然橡胶中，并对该复合材料的力学性能、动态力学性能及微观形貌特征进行了表征。将纤维掺入天然橡胶胶乳的过程通过化学凝聚法完成，随后在实验室双辊混炼机中进行硫化处理。当掺入10质量份（每百份橡胶，phr）的黄麻纤维后，天然橡胶在100%和300%伸长率下的弹性模量提升一倍，且拉伸强度与断裂伸长率均无显著下降。复合材料的硬度提升了47%，储能模量亦有所升高，这表明黄麻纤维表面与天然橡胶基体之间存在优异的界面相互作用。