High Mechanical and Damping Properties of SBR/SiO2 Composites Modified by Surface Hydrogen Bond

Rubber materials need to be reinforced by inorganic fillers due to the low mechanical properties. However, the incorporation of fillers would narrow the damping temperature range of rubber composites because of the adsorption effect of fillers. In this work, fumed silica was modified using silane coupling agent KH550 (denoted as SiO 2 -g), and then was mixed with styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) and Ethyl linoleate (EL) to prepare rubber composites. Under the vulcanization process, EL can not only graft onto the molecular chains of SBR with the assistance of dicumyl peroxide (DCP), but also was capable of forming hydrogen bonds with SiO 2 -g. As a result, the SBR/SiO 2 -g/8EL composite maintained a high tensile strength of 23.75 MPa, and its damping temperature range (with a loss factor tan δ > 0.1) reached −60°C to 90°C. In contrast, the SBR/SiO 2 -g composite only exhibited a tensile strength of 22.38 MPa and a damping temperature range of −40°C to 5°C under the same tan δ threshold. This work provides a new perspective for resolving the dilemma of rubber/inorganic filler composites with high mechanical strength and a wide damping temperature range. Highlights The ethyl linoleate (EL) can graft to the SBR molecular chains. Hydrogen bonds have been introduced into SBR/SiO 2 -g/EL composites. SBR/SiO 2 -g/EL composites possess a wide damping temperature range (tan δ > 0.1). The wide damping temperature range is due to the formation of hydrogen bonds.