Studies on the Effect of Titanate Coupling Agent on the Mechanical Properties of Talc-filled Styrene butadiene Rubber

摘要

Talc belong to an economic class of fillers which are used extensively in rubbers and plastics. Being non-reinforcing in nature, there are limitations upon its use. If the properties of fillers are modified it will get higher value as a filler. To achieve this, modification of surface properties is one of the avenues. In the present work, the effect of the treatment of titanate coupling agent on talc has been studied with styrene butadiene as a matrix. Composites were made with varying proportion of untreated and treated talc. A two-roll mill was used for dispersing the filler in the rubber and compression moulding technique was used to cure the compound in sheet forms. Tensile properties were measured on a computerised UTM using ASTM procedure. Comparison of properties of composites filled with treated and untreated talc established that treatment of talc imparts better reinforcing properties. The properties under consideration were tensile strength, modulus at 100% and 400%, Young's modulus, hardness, etc. Tensile strength, modulus at 400% and Young's modulus improved 92%, 149% and 43%, respectively. Elongation at break also improved by 56%.