Structure and Properties of Natural Rubber/Zinc Disorbate Composite

The natural rubber/zinc disorbate composite was prepared by the in situ formation of zinc disorbate from zinc oxide and sorbic acid in natural rubber. The structure variations of fillers during mixing and vulcanization processes were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The effects of zinc disorbate amount on processing performance and glass transition temperature ( T g ) of compounds and the mechanical properties of vulcanizates were also determined. The XRD and FTIR analyses results indicate that the zinc disorbate is formed from the reaction of zinc oxide and sorbic acid during the mixing procedure followed by graft copolymerizing with NR molecules to form composite networks during vulcanization, which is initiated by dicumyl peroxide. Thus the mechanical properties of NR-based composite are increased significantly and T g shifted towards to higher temperature.