Effect of cardanol on properties of carbon black/natural rubber composites

Carbon black/natural rubber compo-sites were prepared by wet mixing process, and the effects of cardanol amount on Mooney viscosity, mechanical properties and wear resistance were stu-died. The results showed that cardanol could reduce the initial Mooney viscosity of carbon black/natural rubber composite masterbatch, so as to effectively inhibit the hardness of masterbatch and facilitate the storage of masterbatch. Cardanol could improve the dispersion of carbon black in the compound, improve the processing performance of the compound, and shorten the vulcanization time. An appropriate amount of cardanol could improve the modulus and hardness of vulcanizate, and reduce the Payne effect of compound and loss factor of vulcanizate, thus improving wear resistance and reducing compression heat build-up of the composite.