Preparation, properties of In‐situ silica modified styrene‐butadiene rubber and its silica‐filled composites

In this work, native emulsion polymerization styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) were first grafted by vinyltriethoxysilane (VTES) to SBR‐ g ‐VTES (VTES grafted SBR), second, the SBR‐ g ‐VTES were modified by different amount of TEOS (tetraethoxysilane) using in situ sol‐gel method, at the last, the extra silica was added into the in situ modified SBR system to get the modified SBR/silica composites using latex coagulation technology. The effect of different amount of TEOS on modified SBR/silica composites was also systematically studied, including the content of silica and utilization of silica, cure characteristics, physical mechanical properties and dynamic mechanical properties. The surface properties of modified SBR/silica composites were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM). It can be got that the grafting of VTES and in situ hydrolysis and condensation of TEOS can effectively inhibit the agglomeration and improve the mechanical properties of modified SBR/silica. It also can be found that modified SBR brings well physical and dynamic mechanical properties, wear resistance, and low rolling resistance to SBR, especially, when the TEOS is 3.0 g, the best overall performance of modified SBR/silica can be achieved. POLYM. COMPOS., 39:22–28, 2018. © 2016 Society of Plastics Engineers