The effects of aminopropyltriethoxy silane on tensile and rheometric properties of silica-filled natural rubber vulcanizates

Abstract By using a semi-efficient vulcanization system; the effects of aminopropyltriethoxy silane on rheometric and tensile properties of silica-filled natural rubber (NR) composites were investigated. The NR composites were filled by silica filler at a fixed loading at 30.0 parts per hundred rubber (phr). The aminopropyltriethoxy silane was incorporated into the silica-filled NR composites. The aminopropyltriethoxy silane loadings were 1.0, 3.0, 5.0 and 7.0 phr. It was found that aminopropyltriethoxy silane functioned as a co-curing agent which reduced the scorch and cure times of the silica-filled NR composites. The higher the aminopropyltriethoxy silane loading, the shorter the scorch and cure times were. It was also found that aminopropyltriethoxy silanecaused in modulus and tensile improvements, exclusively up to a 5.0 phr of loading. The 5.0 phr of aminopropyltriethoxy silane was the optimum loading.