Sepiolite fibers in rubber nanocomposite the self-assembly effect

A new approach to prepare PNCs based on nano-sized sepiolite (NS-Sep) fibres was explored. Pristine Sep was structurally modified by an acid treatment, which provides NS-Sep fibers with reduced particle size and increased silanol groups on the surface layer. NS-Sep fibers were used to prepare styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) NCs with enhanced mechanical properties. Dynamic-mechanical analysis of Sep NCs demonstrated that the modified Sep fibers provided an excellent balance between reinforcing and hysteretic behavior compared with large-sized pristine Sep and isotropic silica.