Abstract:
This research aims to establish the relationship between the rubber and three types of fillers including clay, rice husk ash and silica on the vulcanization characteristic, physical properties, mechanical properties, heat build up, gas permeability and morphology of the rubber composites. The rubber composites were compatibilized by silane coupling agent and prepared by two-roll mill and Banbury close-cycle mixer. The experimental results show that the amount of fillers below 10 phr did not have significant effect on the degree of rubber vulcanization and the vulcanized time. When the amount of filler was increased, the tensile strength and elongation at break were decreased. But the modulus of elasticity and stiffness were increased. Moreover, the increment in the amount of clay led to the reduction of gas permeability, where the suitable amount of clay was 3 phr. The optimal rice husk ash of 5 phr showed the drastic decrease in the heat build up of the rubber composites. For hybrid system of clay and rice husk ash, the clay : rice husk ash ratio of 5:5 was found to significantly decrease heat build up and the gas permeability.