Influence of Different Carbon Black Contents on the Mechanical Properties of Elastomers

The success of polymeric materials is based on the extensive range of their properties, which make them useful for a large number of applications. To access those properties, materials like chemical additives, fillers or fibers are added to the raw polymer. The Dynamic Mechanical Analyzer from Anton Paar allows determining such time- and temperature-dependent mechanical properties of materials by Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA).

An elastomer is an elastic deformable polymer. Elastomers are produced by chemical crosslinking of rubber, which is a crosslinkable, mainly amorphous polymer with a glass transition temperature below 0 °C. They have a low crosslinking density, a glass transition well below the application temperature and do not yield until thermal decomposition.

By adding different materials to rubber, its properties can be varied significantly. In the early beginnings of rubber processing, minerals like chalk or kaolin were added in order to reduce the rubber’s stickiness. Later on, further materials like zinc oxide and carbon black (CB) were used to improve the mechanical and thermal properties of the compound.

Due to the rapid development of the automotive industry, CB soon became the by far most important filling material for rubbers. The reason is not only its hardening influence, but also the improved wear resistance, which are both important properties of tires.

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