Anomalous behaviour of SBR/Al2O3 nanocomposites at small filler concentrations

Elastomers filled with hard nanoparticles are of great importance for the rubber industry. In general, the incorporation of the small particles improves the mechanical properties of polymeric materials, e.g. elastic modulus, tensile strength etc. Nanocomposites made of poly(styrene-co-butadiene) and alumina nanoparticles (unmodified and modified with different silane coupling agents) were investigated by temperature modulated differential scanning calorimetry (TMDSC) and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). It has been shown that the glass transition behaviour of SBR/alumina nanocomposites differs when the concentration and surface properties of the Al2O3 nanoparticles are changed. The influence of the fillers on the shear stiffness of the rubber material was also investigated. TMDSC investigations shed light on a surprising behaviour of the glass transition temperature when the nanoparticle concentration is changed: at low filler contents the quasi-static glass transition temperature Tg passes through a minimum. While further increasing the nanoparticle content Tg increases to finally saturate at high concentrations. DMA results showed a quasi-solid-like frequency-independent response of the nanocomposites in the low frequency regime with increasing of the filler concentration.