Plant Based Sustainable Alternatives to Silane for Enhanced Dynamic-Mechanical Properties of Rubber-Silica Compositions

Rising ecological concerns and depletion of the potentially harmful environmental impacts caused by rubber products are prime importance in the industry. Herein we report an unprecedented versatile method to minimize the detrimental influences. Terpene which is a class of hydrocarbon-rich biomass and sustainable renewable natural polymer, has been functionalized with Natural Rubber (NR) to facilitate the augmented interaction with silica. Remarkable improvement in the overall properties corroborated with various meticulous characterization including nano-indentation, physico-mechanical and small angle X-ray scattering using Becauge model. The dynamic mechanical properties of the green composites demonstrated ultra-low rolling resistance and advanced traction performance.