An Analysis upon the Use of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles in Natural Rubber, Chloroprene Rubber and Styrene Butadiene Rubber as an Activator: Investigating the Effect of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles on the Vulcanizate Properties of Rubber

Abstract

Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles were synthesized by homogeneous precipitation and calcination method and were then characterized by transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis. Synthesized ZnO was found to have no impurity and had a dimension ranging from 30–70 nm with an average of 50 nm. The effect of these ZnO nanoparticles as cure activator was studied for the first time in natural rubber (NR) and nitrile rubber (NBR) and compared with conventional rubber grade ZnO with special reference to mechanical and dynamic mechanical properties. From the rheograph, the maximum torque value was found to increase for both NR and NBR compounds containing ZnO nanoparticles. ZnO nanoparticles were found to be more uniformly dispersed in the rubber matrix in comparison with the conventional rubber grade ZnO as evident from scanning electron microscopy/X-ray dot mapping analysis.This work focuses on the study the effect of ZnO nanoparticles on the vulcanizate properties of natural rubber (NR) latex films. Zinc oxide nanoparticles were synthesized by a simple and an efficient wet chemical method. The Powder X-ray Diffraction (PXRD) characterization confirmed the successful synthesis of pure ZnO and the average particle size was found to be 50 – 100 nm as indicated by particle size analysis. ZnO nanoparticles thus prepared were surface modified with oleic acid as a capping agent and the modification was carried out under ultrasound sonication in order to provide mechanical forces to separate nanoparticles leading to an efficient surface reaction. The existence of organic layer was confirmed by the Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) spectra.