Studies on high performance rubber composites by incorporating titanium dioxide particles with different surface area and particle size

Abstract

In this work, we incorporate titanium dioxide (TiO2) particles as fillers into room temperature vulcanized silicone rubber (RTV-SR) and fabricated the RTV-SR/TiO2 composites. Herein, the effect of various surface areas of TiO2 particles on the mechanical properties of RTV-SR/TiO2 composites was investigated. The particle size of different types of TiO2 particles (147 nm, 34 nm, and 29 nm) was measured by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), whereas the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area was measured through adsorption-desorption isotherms as 3, 50, and 145 m2/g, respectively. TiO2 particles reinforced RTV-SR composites were prepared by solution mixing method. TiO2 particles with smaller particle sizes and high BET surface area exhibited higher mechanical properties. The compressive moduli were obtained as 2.2 MPa for a virgin sample and increased to 2.6 MPa, 2.8 MPa and 3.24 MPa for 3, 50, and 145 m2/g samples respectively at 6 phr filler loading. Similarly, the fracture strain of the composite was 117% for a virgin sample and changed to 94%, 130%, and 205% for 3, 50, and 145 m2/g samples, respectively, at 8 phr filler loading. The surface area and particle size of the fillers showed significant effect on mechanical properties of the composites, but no significant effect was observed on the energy harvesting values of RTV-SR/TiO2 composites.