Carbon Nanotube‐Reinforced Rubber Nanocomposites: A Comparison of Simplified and Commercial Formulations

ABSTRACT Improving the performance of materials that already possess excellent mechanical properties is one of the most persistent challenges in materials engineering. While carbon‐based nanomaterials such as carbon nanotubes (CNTs) offer remarkable potential for improving polymer nanocomposites, their effectiveness is limited in highly reinforced systems. This limitation is particularly evident in commercial grade rubbers, especially those designed for mining belt covers, which are formulated to provide superior abrasion and tear resistance. In this work, nanocomposites with CNT concentrations up to 8 phr were prepared using both a simplified laboratory formulation and a commercial rubber compound. A pre‐dispersion strategy recently reported was employed, in which the CNTs were dispersed in sulfur to improve their distribution within the rubber matrix. The mechanical and wear properties of both types of nanocomposites were thoroughly analyzed and compared. Although the simplified rubber showed significant improvements in performance, such as a 365% increase in tensile strength, these improvements were less pronounced in the commercial formulation. However, incorporating 5 phr of CNTs into the commercial rubber resulted in a 27% reduction in volume loss during the abrasion test, a notable improvement given the already high performance of the base material. These results demonstrate the potential of CNTs to fine‐tune the properties of advanced rubber composites for demanding industrial applications.