A Study on the Vulcanization Characteristics of SBR/BR Blends Containing Reinforcing Fillers

Order of reaction, rate constant, activation energy for vulcanization reaction, crosslinking density, and elastic constant of the network produced by sulfur curing were investigated on the SBR/BR blends containing silica and carbon black under same cure system. The reaction order was shown to be first order regardless of filler types. The carbon black filled rubber compounds showed higher rate constant compared to silica filled compounds. But activation energy appeared to be same regardless of filler type and rubber blend ratio. The crosslinking density and elastic constant is higher in the carbon black filled compound compared to silica filled compounds because of strong interaction between rubber and carbon black. On the other hand, crosslinking density and elastic constant were decreased with increasing the butadine rubber content in rubber blends. From the comparison of combined sulfur content in the vulcanized rubber, sulfur content in the silica filled compound become constant 20min later after reaction initiates but sulfur content in the carbon black filled compound become constant 10min later after reaction starts. The silica compound has a longer induction time () and optimum cure time() compared to those of the carbon black filled compound.