Polyrhodanine mediated interface in natural rubber/carbon black composites toward ultralow energy loss

Carbon black (CB) is a principal filler in rubber industry due to its excellent reinforcing effect and low-cost. It is of significant importance but challenging to modify the inert CB for addressing the dilemma of increased energy loss raised by the addition of CB. In this work, we reported the functionalization of CB through redox polymerization of rhodanine on its surface, and utilized the modified CB as a novel reinforcement for natural rubber (NR). Polyrhodanine coated on CB can covalently couple with NR chains by capturing macroradicals and serve as an intelligent interfacial bridge between CB and NR, which greatly improves CB dispersion and strengthens interfacial adhesion in the composites. As a consequence, the energy loss of the resultant composites is remarkably decreased, showing great advantages in reducing the rolling resistance and heat build-up for tire applications.