Abstract It has been commonly acknowledged that particle dispersion and interfacial interactions are vital in determining the ultimate performance of polymer composites. However, the interplay between dispersibility and interfacial interaction in polymer composites has not been explicitly unraveled. In this contribution, a series of silica with controlled surface chemistry are prepared to reveal the effects of subtle change in surface property of filler on the structures and mechanical performance of the rubber composites. On the basis of thermodynamic theory, the dispersibility of modified silica in rubber is quantitatively evaluated by using surface energy. The modified silica was introduced into styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) to investigate the effects of surface modification on the dispersion of silica and interfacial interaction of the rubber composites. It has been demonstrated that subtle change in surface chemistry of silica drastically improves its dispersibility in rubber matrix, leading to much improved accessible surfaces and hence much complete interfacial reaction. At very low grafting content (0.2 molecule/nm2), improved modulus (44%) and wet-traction (54%), together with reduced rolling-resistance (11%), are concurrently observed.

中文翻译：

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通过巧妙控制二氧化硅的表面化学显着改善橡胶-二氧化硅界面

摘要 人们普遍认为，粒子分散和界面相互作用对于决定聚合物复合材料的最终性能至关重要。然而，聚合物复合材料中分散性和界面相互作用之间的相互作用尚未明确阐明。在这项贡献中，制备了一系列具有受控表面化学的二氧化硅，以揭示填料表面性质的细微变化对橡胶复合材料的结构和机械性能的影响。基于热力学理论，利用表面能定量评价改性白炭黑在橡胶中的分散性。将改性白炭黑引入丁苯橡胶 (SBR) 以研究表面改性对白炭黑分散和橡胶复合材料界面相互作用的影响。已经证明，二氧化硅表面化学的细微变化极大地提高了其在橡胶基质中的分散性，从而大大改善了可及性表面，从而使界面反应更加完全。在非常低的接枝含量 (0.2 分子/nm2) 下，同时观察到模量 (44%) 和湿牵引力 (54%) 的提高，以及滚动阻力的降低 (11%)。