Enhancing interfacial and mechanical strength of styrene‐butadiene rubber composites via in situ fabricated halloysite nanotubes/silica nano hybrid

In situ fabricated nano hybrid halloysite nanotubes (HNTs‐g‐Silica) by chemically grafting silica nanoparticles onto HNTs was used as the reinforcing filler for styrene butadiene rubber (SBR). The dispersion of HNTs‐g‐Silica and the interfacial interaction between HNTs‐g‐Silica and SBR were systematically investigated. The results suggested that HNTs‐g‐Silica was uniformly dispersed in SBR matrix. Moreover, compared with HNTs or the mixture of mixed HNTs/silica, HNTs‐g‐Silica could immobilize more rubber chains on its surface, manifesting a strong interfacial interaction between HNTs‐g‐Silica and SBR. Consequently, SBR/HNTs‐g‐Silica composites showed much higher mechanical strength and extensibility than SBR/HNTs/Silica or SBR/HNTs composites, for example, showing 123% increase in tensile strength compared with SBR/HNTs composites when the filler content was 30 phr. Besides, the loss factor at 60°C of SBR/HNTs‐g‐Silica composites was significantly lower than that of SBR/HNTs composites, indicating that HNTs‐g‐Silica should be better energy saving than HNTs when used in rubber tire materials. POLYM. COMPOS., 40:677–684, 2019. © 2018 Society of Plastics Engineers