A reactive amphiphile, SA1, which comprises a mercaptodecyl oleophilic tail and a β-alanine oleophobic moiety, has been introduced to serve as the building block for supramolecular filler. At least a fraction of SA1 reacts in situ during mechanically mixing and vulcanization with SBR via thiol-ene reaction. Some oxidative dimerization also concomitantly occurs to give DSA1. The chemical coupling between SA1 and SBR results in drastically improved filler domain dispersion. Short fibrous crystalline domains, which are likely composed of SA1, SA1 grafted to SBR, and DSA1, less than 10 nm in width and a few tens to one hundred nanometers in length are observed by TEM. The filler domains are evenly distributed in the SBR. In contrast, the simple filler PA1 forms large irregular aggregates on the length scale of hundreds of nanometers. The improved filler dispersion and filler-rubber interaction allow effective energy dissipation and result in significantly improved mechanical properties.

A solution-mixing method proves feasible for mixing SA1 and SBR and actually has resulted in better mechanical properties than the mechanical mixing method. Since the conventional mechanical mixing method for rubber compounding is highly energy-intensive, avoidance of the mechanical mixing method is another practical advantage for the novel strategy of supramolecular reinforcement.

已经引入了反应性两亲物SA1，其包含巯基十二烷基亲油性尾巴和β-丙氨酸疏油性部分，用作超分子填料的结构单元。在机械混合和通过硫醇-烯反应与SBR硫化的过程中，至少有一部分SA1原位反应。伴随发生一些氧化二聚反应以得到DSA1。SA1和SBR之间的化学偶联可显着改善填料域的分散性。通过TEM观察到短的纤维晶域，其可能由SA1，接枝到SBR的SA1和DSA1组成，其宽度小于10nm并且长度为几十至一百纳米。填充域均匀分布在SBR中。相反，简单的填料PA1在数百纳米的长度尺度上形成大的不规则聚集体。

溶液混合法被证明可以混合SA1和SBR，并且实际上比机械混合法具有更好的机械性能。由于用于橡胶配合的常规机械混合方法耗费大量能量，因此对于超分子增强的新策略，避免使用机械混合方法是另一个实际优势。