Modulating titanium nitride (TiN) dispersion in SBR for highly flexible mechanical elastomer

Abstract Nano-titanium nitride (TiN) was modified by γ -methacryloyloxy propyltrimethoxysilane (CA) and macromolecular interfacial modifier styrene/acrylonitrile/ γ -methacryloyloxy propyltrimethoxysilane (MCA) and was introduced into styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) matrix by blending method. In addition, the dispersibility of the modified nano-TiN in organic ethyl acetate solvent and SBR matrix and its effect on composites properties were investigated by a variety of characterization methods. The modified TiN with MCA (TiN-MCA) had better dispersion in ethyl acetate solvent and SBR according to the high-resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM) results. Compared with TiN/SBR, the tensile strength and elongation at break of TiN-MCA/SBR composites increased by 33.3 % and 24.8 %, respectively. The dynamic mechanical test also suggested that TiN-MCA had the best dispersion in SBR and the strongest interface interaction with SBR. Meanwhile, DSC results showed that the Tg of composites increased by 6 % compared with that of TiN/SBR. In summary, the results illustrated that the involvement of TiN-MCA to the SBR matrix was more advantageous to mechanical and thermal properties of the composites than that of TiN and CA-TiN because of the better dispersion, which greatly broadened the application range of SBR composites.