Preparation of modified sisal microcrystalline cellulose PHS‐g‐MCC and its application in NR/SiO2 composites

Abstract Poly‐(12‐hydroxystearic acid) (PHS) grafted sisal microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) was prepared using γ‐aminopropyltriethoxylsiane (KH550) and PHS. It was applied to natural rubber (NR) composites system to replace part of the silica (SiO 2 ) and reinforce the NR composites. The compatibility between PHS‐g‐MCC and the NR matrix was studied with molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. The reinforcement of NR composites with PHS‐g‐MCC (instead of SiO 2 ) was investigated experimentally. NR/SiO 2 /PHS‐g‐MCC and NR/SiO 2 /MCC composites were prepared with a fixed filler content of 30 phr. The results show that the partial substitution of PHS‐g‐MCC for SiO 2 can improve the vulcanization characteristics of the composites. The PHS‐g‐MCC showed better dispersibility in the NR matrix than MCC and the addition of PHS‐g‐MCC improved the tensile strength, 100% modulus, and hardness of the NR composites. When the amount of PHS‐g‐MCC replacing SiO 2 is 5 phr, the tensile strength of the NR composites reached its maximum value. The thermal stability of NR reinforced by PHS‐g‐MCC was better than that of NR reinforced by MCC.