• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.347-352
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• 1996

A natural rubber was blended with a butadiene rubber with different ratios. A natural rubber, along with three different blends, its ratio varying from 10 to 15 to 20 weight %, were prepared and tested. It was found that inclusion of the butadiene rubber increased cure time, compared to the natural rubber. It is speculated that increased free volume due to the inclusion of butadiene rubber contributed to this effect. Furthermore, inclusion of butadiene rubber led to increase hardness of a sphere, and as a result, the extent of rebound increased sharply.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.57 no.4
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• pp.188-196
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• 2022

Styrene-butadiene rubber(SBR) is a copolymer of styrene and butadiene. It is composed of 1,2-unit, 1,4-unit, and styrene, and its properties are dependent on its microstructure. In general, rubber composites contain a single rubber or a blended rubber. Similarly, SBR is used by mixing with natural rubber(NR) and butadiene rubber(BR). The composition of a rubber article affects its physical and chemical properties. Herein, an analytical method for determining the microstructure of SBR using via pyrolysis is introduced. Pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry is widely used to analyze the microstructure of polymeric materials. The microstructure of SBR can be determined by analyzing the principal pyrolysis products formed from SBR, such as 4-vinylcyclohexene, styrene, 2-phenylpropene, 3-phenylcyclopentene, and 4-phenylcyclohexene. An analytical method for determining the composition of SBR/NR, SBR/BR, and SBR/NR/BR blends via pyrolysis is introduced. The composition of blended rubber can be determined by analyzing the principal pyrolysis products formed from each rubber component.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.55 no.4
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• pp.281-288
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• 2020

A calibration curve is needed to determine the SBR and BR blend ratio of SBR/BR blend rubber compounds using pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass chromatography (Py-GC/MS) or Py-GC. In general, a calibration curve is obtained using reference SBR/BR vulcanizates with various blend ratios. In this study, the calibration curves were obtained using reference samples made of rubber solutions and were compared to those plotted using the reference SBR/BR vulcanizates. Calibration curves using variations of 1,3-butadiene/styrene, 4-vinylcyclohexene (VCH)/styrene, 2-phenylpropene (PhP)/butadiene, PhP/VCH, 4-phenylcyclohexene (PhCH)/butadiene, and PhCH/VCH ratios with the BR content were examined for the suitability. We found that the calibration curves obtained using the mixed rubber solution references (1,3-butadiene/styrene and PhP/butadiene) could replace those constructed using the reference SBR/BR vulcanizates. The calibration curves of 1,3-butadiene/styrene and PhP/butadiene obtained using the raw references can be used for the determination of the SBR/BR blend ratios by applying some correction factors.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.54 no.1
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• pp.54-60
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• 2019

The rapid development of the automobile industry is an important factor that led to the dramatic development of synthetic rubber. The tread part of tire that comes in direct contact with the road surface is related to the service life of the tire. Rubber compounds used in tire treads are often blended with SBR (styrene-butadiene rubber) and BR (butadiene rubber) to satisfy physical property requirements. However, when two or more kinds of rubber are blended, phase separation and silica dispersion problems may occur due to non-uniform mixing of the rubber. Therefore, in this study, we synthesized an SBR copolymer with the same composition as that of a typical SBR/BR blend compound by controlling butadiene content during ESBR (emulsion styrene-butadiene rubber) synthesis. Subsequently, silica filled compounds were manufactured using the synthesized ESBR, and their mechanical properties, dynamic viscoelasticity, and crosslinking density were compared with those of the SBR/BR blended compound. When the content of butadiene was increased in the silica filled compound, the cure rate accelerated due to an increased number of allylic positions, which typically exhibit higher reactivity. However, the T-2 compound with increased butadiene content by synthesis less likely to show an increase in crosslink density due to poor silica dispersion. In addition, the T-3 compound containing high cis BR content showed high crosslink density due to its monosulfide crosslinking structure. Because of the phase separation, SBR/BR blend compounds were easily broken and showed similar $M_{100%}$ and $M_{300%}$ values as those of other compounds despite their high crosslink density. However, the developed blend showed excellent abrasion resistance due to the high cis-1,4 butadiene content and low rolling resistance due to the high crosslink density.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.172-178
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• 2021

The wear behavior of styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) and butadiene rubber (BR) was investigated using a blade-type abrader with a steel blade (SB), Ti-coated tungsten carbide blade (TiB), or zirconia blade (ZB). The wear rate of SBR against SB and TiB decreased with increasing number of revolutions because of the blunting of the blades during wear. However, the wear rate of SBR against ZB remained nearly constant with little blade blunting. Generally, the wear rate of BR was largely unaffected by the blade material used for abrasion. The wear rate and frictional coefficient of SBR were found to be higher than those of BR at similar levels of frictional energy input. A power-law relationship was found between the wear rate and frictional energy input during abrasion. A well-known Schallamach pattern was observed for SBR, while a much finer pattern was observed for BR. The blade material affects the wear rate of the rubbers because the macromolecular free radicals and blade tend to undergo mechano-chemical reactions. The inorganic ZB was found to be the most inert for such a mechanism.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.93-102
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• 1966

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.55 no.4
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• pp.289-299
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• 2020

Highly aromatic (HA) oils are common processing aids used in tire tread compounds. However, they often bleed and evaporate from the vulcanizates during tire use. Thus, the mechanical and dynamical properties of the tire decrease. To overcome this problem, we investigated nonfunctionalized liquid butadiene rubber (LBR-305, Kuraray) and center-functionalized liquid butadiene rubber (C-LqBR), polymerized by anionic polymerization. In addition to the liquid butadiene rubbers, p-tert-octylphenol (P-Resin) and C5 hydrocarbon (H-Resin) tackifier resins, which can induce entanglement of rubber compounds, were researched as a processing aid to solve the bleeding problem. Liquid butadiene rubbers have significantly reduced extraction loss by crosslinking with the main rubber chain. They have also increased the abrasion resistance and showed similar or better mechanical and dynamical properties against HA oils. However, resin compounds did not show differences in extraction loss compared to HA oil compounds; instead, they showed increased wet traction.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.58 no.4
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• pp.173-178
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• 2023

Recently, there has been a significant focus on the development of flexible and stretchable sensors, driven by advancements in electronic devices and the robotics industry. Among these sensors, tactile sensors stand out as the most actively researched, playing a crucial role in facilitating interaction between humans and electronic devices, particularly in robotics and medical applications. This study specifically involves the manufacturing of a capacitive tactile sensor using a relatively straightforward process and sensor structure. Natural rubber and Nitrile butadiene rubber, commonly employed in the rubber industry, were utilized. The dielectric material in the manufactured tactile sensor possesses a porous structure. Notably, the resulting tactile sensor demonstrated excellent sensitivity, approximately 1%/kPa, and exhibited the capability to detect pressures up to 212 kPa.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.217-223
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• 2002

Silica-filled rubber compounds show poor filler dispersion and slow cure characteristics compared to carbon black-filled ones. In general, a silica-filled rubber compound contains silane coupling agent (bis-(3-(triethoxysilyl)-propyl)-tetrasulfide, TESPT) and diphenylguanidine (DPG) to improve the filler dispersion and to make fast cure characteristics. Acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber (NBR) improves the filler dispersion in silica-filled styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) compounds. In this study, effect of NBR on the properties of silica-filled SBR compounds was investigated. Properties of the compounds which contain NBR without DPG or with small amount of TESPT (Compound A) were compared with those of the compounds which contain TESPT and DPG without NBR (Compound B). Scorch time of Compound A is faster than those of Compound B. Modulus and tensile strength of Comound A are slightly lower than those of Compound B. Traction property of the Comound A is better than that of the Compound B. Addition of NBR leads to reduction of the used amount of TESPT and DPG.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.246-254
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• 1998

In order to investigate the characteristics of resistance and conduction of vulcanized styrene butadiene rubber (SBR)/ carbon black (CB) composites, surface/ volume resistivity, point to point resistance, decay time, and electrical conduction experiments with four different kinds of non-conductive carbon black were measured. When about 50phr of carbon black were loaded in SBR, all resistivites suddenly decreased and critical region (Rc) was shown. Current densities of SBR/CB composites showed critical point (Pc) and increased with the electric fields. Electrical conduction mechanisms of SBR/CB composites could be considered as the ohmic conduction at low electric fields and the space charge limited conduction (SCLC) at high electric fields, respectively.