Possible Use of Sepiolite as Alternative Filler for Natural Rubber

The use of mineral fillers in rubber industry has been increasingly focused. Sepiolite is considered as one of the mineral fillers that exploits unique characteristics. This is due to its unique needle-like fibrous and a tunnel-like micro-pore channel structures. Therefore, adding this filler in natural rubber (NR) matrix would bring tremendous advantage. The study was carried out in the form of curing characteristics, tensile properties and morphology together with the dynamic properties. Filling sepiolite to NR has brought to a noticeable enhancement of curing characteristics, tensile properties and morphology. This is contributed to the distinctive structure of sepiolite itself, it provides a better dispersion to the NR. Surface roughness of the composites is visibly found which is responsible for the mechanical properties. Further verification was also monitored through the dynamic properties of the composites. The obtained profiles are in good agreement to the tensile properties and morphological characteristics observed.

橡胶工业中矿物填料的应用愈发受到关注。海泡石（Sepiolite）作为一类矿物填料，因其独特的针状纤维结构与隧道型微孔通道特征而备受青睐。将该填料添加至天然橡胶（NR）基体中，可带来显著的性能增益。本研究从硫化特性、拉伸性能、微观形貌及动态力学性能四个维度开展实验。研究结果表明，向天然橡胶基体中填充海泡石可显著改善其硫化特性、拉伸性能与微观形貌表现，这得益于海泡石自身独特的结构，其能实现填料在天然橡胶基体中的更均匀分散。可观察到复合材料存在明显的表面粗糙度，该特征对其力学性能具有关键影响。后续通过复合材料的动态力学性能进一步验证了上述结论，所得性能曲线与观测到的拉伸性能及微观形貌特征高度吻合。