A New Way of Thinking about the Fillers Role in Natural Rubber: Improving Hysteresis Through Filler Modifications and Smart Compounding

There have been several attempts to improve hysteresis in carbon black filled compounds by implementing a coupling agent.  The role of such an agent is to increase the interaction between the carbon black and polymer, but these attempts have had very limited success.   In this paper we will present a theory of how this interaction can be improved by using a chemically modified carbon black that can be utilized with the proper curing agents during the mixing/vulcanization steps to produce an overall superior rubber compound.  We will also characterize the modified carbon black and propose mechanisms for further actions the filler has in the mixing and vulcanizations steps.  It will be shown how the choice of curing packages is critical in producing the desired performance parameters.  This new method of filler modification with smart compounding may lead to a new performance standard in natural rubber compounds.