Effect of Vulcanization Additive on Cure Characteristics and Physical Properties of Silica Filled Epoxidised Natural Rubber Truck Tyre Tread Compound

摘要

The challenges of using Epoxidised Natural Rubber (ENR) in truck tyre tread are to achieve good cure reversion resistance and physical properties especially on abrasion resistance towards long vulcanization time. The objectives of the project are to study the effects of vulcanization additive on the cure characteristics and physical properties of silica filled ENR compound. In this work, a variation of curing systems was employed and a standard carbon black filled Natural Rubber/Butadiene Rubber (NR/BR) compound as a comparison. Greater reversion resistance and physical properties were observed with inclusion of vulcanization additive in the silica compound as compared to compound containing any. The abrasion resistance on the hand improved in spite of long vulcanization time which commonly practices in truck tyre manufacturing.