Natural Rubber/cis-1,4-Polybutadiene Nanocomposites: Vulcanization Behavior, Mechanical Properties, and Thermal Stability

Natural rubber/cis-1,4-polybutadiene (NR/BR) blends with two types of layered nanofillers, montmorillonite (MMT) and layered double hydroxide (LDH), both in pristine and organically modified forms are produced and investigated. Faster curing is found for all the NR/BR blends, except for the one containing the unmodified MMT. This effect can be attributed to the groups placed in the interlayer regions of the clays; more precisely to ammonium groups for the organo-MMTs and to OH groups for LDHs. Mechanical properties and thermal stability of rubber compounds are investigated. It has been demonstrated that the performance of the final nanocomposite is significantly affected by the kind of clay. Particularly, the organo-MMTs provoke an improvement of the mechanical properties and increase the thermal stability of about 4–58 C in respect to the pure NR/BR matrix. On the contrary, the poor compatibility of unmodified MMTand of LDH clays with the rubber blend is evident and no enhancement on the composite performance has been observed.