Tensile, Swelling and Morphological Properties of Bentonite-Filled Acrylonitrile Butadiene Rubber Composites

Tensile, swelling and morphological properties of bentonite filled acrylonitrile butadiene rubber (NBR/Bt) composites were studied. The experiments were conducted at room temperature by using two rolled mill, universal testing machine (INSTRON), and American Standard Testing Method (ASTM) D471 for compounding, tensile testing, and swelling test, respectively. Results obtained indicated that a better tensile strength, elongation at break and tensile modulus were recorded as compared to the pure NBR particularly up to 90 phr of Bt loading. However, swelling (%) exhibited the opposite trend where the liquid uptake by the composites was indirectly proportional with the increasing of Bt loading. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) used on the tensile fractured surface of the NBR/Bt composites have shown that the fillers were well embedded in the NBR matrix, for Bt loading up to 90 phr. The agglomeration of fillers occurred for Bt loading exceeding 90 phr.