Natural rubber nanocomposites were produced by melt‐mixing of natural rubber with organically modified silicates. For comparison, a pristine‐layered silicate and a nonlayered version [English Indian clay (EIC)] were also included in the study. The layered silicate used was sodium bentonite (BNT) and organoclays used were octadecylamine‐ modified montmorillonite (MMT‐ODA) and methyltallow bis‐2‐hydroxyethyl ammonium‐modified montmorillonite (MMT‐ TMDA). Accelerated sulfur system was used for the vulcanization of the nanocomposites. The dispersion of these silicates was studied by X‐ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. The organoclay‐incorporated composites exhibited faster curing and improved mechanical properties. The improvement in the mechanical properties of the composites followed the order MMT‐ODA > MMT‐TMDA > EIC > BNT. The property improvement was attributed to the intercalation/exfoliation of the organically modified silicates because of their high initial interlayer distance.
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Madhusoodanan et al. (2006) studied this question.
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