Experimental Study On The Thermal Conductivity And Mechanical Properties Of Graphite/Nature Rubber

With the development of science and technology, thermal conductive rubber with good comprehensive properties has been a hot issue recently. Based on tread, the effect of graphite and acrylate or phenolic resin mass ratio, hard and soft monomer ratio and kinds of phenolic resin on modification was researched. The process methods also affected the thermal conductivity and mechanical properties of nature rubber composites.It was found that the surfaces and lamellars of graphite were coated with a lot of acrylate polymer which improved the surface roughness and activity. The dispersion of graphite in rubber matrix and the contact between them were enhanced by graphite surface modification. The dispersion of graphite in rubber was increased and the combination and contact between graphite and rubber were enhanced, which contributed to form thermal conduction net chains to improve the thermal conductivity and mechanical properties of the vulcanized composites.When filled with graphite modified at the mass ratio of10:1between it and monomers, nature rubber processed by open mill could obtain the higher thermal conductivity and better mechanical properties. In internal mixing processing, a mass ration of10:1between graphite and monomers was found proper for thermal conduction enhancement. However, for mechanical properties improvement, a mass ration of5:1was better. Open mill was helpful for thermal conductivity increase, however, internal mixing contributed to enhance mechanical properties. In summary, nature rubber with high thermal conductivity and good mechanical properties could be processed when the mass ratio of graphite to acrylate was10:1and MMA to BA ratio was1:2.It could be seen that the surfaces and lamellars of graphite were filled with a lot of phenolic resin which improved the surface roughness and activity. Then, the combination and contact between graphite and rubber were enhanced. When curing, phenolic resin cross-linked and formed network structure which interspersed and interacted with matrix network structure. Added cross-linking took great contribution to the thermal conductivity and mechanical properties enhancement.Generally, when the mass ratio of graphite to phenolic resin was10:1, nature rubber filled with modified-graphite gained higher thermal conductivity and better mechanical properties. And, internal mixing was helpful for improving thermal conductivity, but better mechanical properties were obtained by open mill. Finally, at the mass ratio of10:1, graphite modified by203phenolic resin was found to be the best candidate for nature rubber composites with good comprehensive properties.