Properties Of Polyaniline/Short Fiber Reinforced Natural Rubber

The polyaniline (PANI)/short glass fiber composites and the polyaniline/short nylon fiber composites were prepared by in-situ polymerization in this paper. Both of them as a new type of reinforcing agent were mixed with NR by mechanical mixing called SFRC. The study of the modified short fiber's surface morphology and its distribution in the rubber matrix were performed with the scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) and thermal analysis (TG) techniques. Also the mechanical properties of the SFRC were analyzed.Experimental results show that the polyaniline particles attached to the short fiber's surface by in-situ polymerization, the yield of the product increased with the number of the short fibers. And the particals of the short fiber's surface increased in the high organic content of polyaniline/fiber. The gap between fibers have more polyaniline particles.Polyaniline/fiber in the rubber matrix has good dispersion with no cluster phenomenon. And the compatibility with rubber matrix is also good. To a certain extent, it has improved the rubber's mechanical properties. The addition of the polyaniline does not affect the short fiber's thermal stability.When short fiber content was in certain circumstances, SFRC had stong tear strength and tensile strength with polyaniline content was between 10% and 15%.Compared with carbon black and many other reinforcing agents, short fiber had its own advantages, such as its small amount (while carbon black is 70 or 80 phr)We can get SFRC with significant performance changes, which helps to save raw materials and make products with light weight. In a certain range short fibers can even replace the commonly used fiber textile reinforcing materials.We have a preliminary study on the application of the polyaniline on short fiber's surface morphology and find that polyaniline can improve the compatibility between short fiber and rubber matrix.