Natural rubber nanocomposites with MWCNT@POSS hybrid filler: Preparation and properties

The use of hybrid fillers can replace conventional nanoparticles in the area of fabrication of nanocomposites due to their superior properties owing to the synergistic action from the individual components. Here we prepared for the first time, polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane and multiwalled carbon nanotube hybrid filler based natural rubber nanocomposites by two-roll mill mixing method. The filler-polymer interactions were studied from frequency sweep and strain sweep rheological measurements. The cure characteristics of the nanocomposites threw light into the effect of the nanofiller on vulcanization reactions and crosslinked networks. The transmission electron microscopic images provided information about the filler dispersion in the polymer matrix and could be correlated with the material properties. The mechanical properties of the composites were also examined which showed the extent of reinforcement provided by the hybrid filler on the NR matrix.