The nanorubber was developed by Prof. Werner Obrecht and Lanxess. It is defined "nanorubber" because it is characterized by a chemical nanostructure where the rubber particles have a dimension comprised between 40 and 65 nm. The nanorubber has been designed with a highly crosslinked particle core and consequently the particle morphology is not destroyed by high shear stresses occurring during mixing. The nanorubber has been designed to be used as a reactive filler in siiica-based rubber compounds. For this reason the extremities of the polymer chains of the nanorubber are end-capped with hydroxyl groups in order to permit the linkage between the surface of the rubber nanoparticles with the silica surface. Instead in the present study we have used the nanorubber as a filler in a common carbon black filled compound without the use of silica or other polar fillers and without the use of silane coupling agents. Two nanorubber grades were used in this study, one based on nano-SBR and another on nano-BR. The main advantages offered by the nanorubber additive is a reduction of the mechanical hysteresis.
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