Particles in model filled rubber: Dispersion and mechanical properties

• Published in: The European physical journal. E, Soft matter and biological physics Vol. 31; no. 3; pp. 263 - 268
• Main Authors: Montes, H., Chaussée, T., Papon, A., Lequeux, F., Guy, L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer-Verlag 01.03.2010; EDP Sciences
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Biological and Medical Physics; Biophysics; Complex Fluids and Microfluidics; Complex Systems; Composites; Exact sciences and technology; Forms of application and semi-finished materials; Nanotechnology; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Polymer industry, paints, wood; Polymer Sciences; Regular Article; Soft and Granular Matter; Surfaces and Interfaces; Technology of polymers; Thin Films; Small Angle Neutron Scattering; Elastic Modulus; Strain Amplitude; Silica Particle; Strain Softening; Elastic modulus; Strain softening; Acrylic elastomer; Dispersion degree; Temperature effect; Mechanical properties; Dispersion reinforced material; Experimental study; Modeling; Silica; Polymer filler interaction
• ISSN: 1292-8941; 1292-895X
• DOI: 10.1140/epje/i2010-10570-x

We have been able to design model filled rubbers with exactly the same chemical structure but different filler arrangements. From these model systems, we show that the particle arrangement in the elastomeric matrix controls the strain softening at small strain amplitude known as the Payne effect, as well as the elastic modulus dependence on the temperature. More precisely, we observed that the Payne effect disappears and the elastic modulus only weakly depends on the temperature when the particles are well separated. On the contrary, samples with the same interfacial physical chemistry but with aggregated particles show large amplitudes of the Payne effect and their elastic modulus decreases significantly with the temperature. We discuss these effects in terms of glassy bridge formation between filler particles. The observed effects provide evidence that glassy bridges play a key role on the mechanical properties of filled rubbers.