Effect of nanosilica on structure and properties of silicone rubber

The precipitated silica and the fumed silica were used to reinforce the silicone rubber,and the effect of filler loadings and specific surface area on the bound rubber amount,the thickness of adsorbed rubber layer and the mechanical properties of the reinforced rubber was examined.Swelling measurement and scanning electron microscopy(SEM) were used to characterize the properties and the morphology of the reinforced silicone rubber.The results showed that the filler loading had great influence on the reinforce effect,the vulcanizates exhibited better mechanical properties at the filler loading of 0.4 with the bound rubber amount of 49.24% and the thickness of adsorbed rubber layer 6.87 nm.The increasing of the specific surface area of the filler led to the elevation of the bound rubber,along with the improvement of the rubber reinforcement and the thermo-stability of the vulcanizates.Furthermore,the higher specific surface area of the filler resulted in higher value of Kraus C,thus indicating the better reinforce capability.