Filled rubber materials: From filler agglomeration to electrical resistance

3^rd International Conference and Exhibition on Materials Science & Engineering

October 06-08, 2014 Hilton San Antonio Airport, USA

Alexander I Chervanyov

Accepted Abstracts: Material Sci Eng

Abstract :

The talk discusses our recent studies of the selected properties of polymer nano-composites. In the first part of the talk, we discuss the problem of the kinetic stability of the filler agglomerates in rubbers and dense polymer melts in the presence of shear, critical for understanding the filler reinforcement in these systems often used in tire technology. By making use of the self-consistent field theory, we develop a pragmatic approach to evaluating the polymer mediated potential and associated filler flocculation stability ratio in rubbers. The obtained polymer mediated potential and stability ratio have been expressed through relevant experimentally accessible quantities: (i) filler immersion free energy, (ii) compressibility, (iii) polymer density correlation length; and evaluated for selected practically important filler and rubber materials used in tire industry. In the second part of the talk, we discuss the electrical resistance R of the elastomeric material polychloroprene filled with multiwalled carbon nanotubes (CNT) dispersed by using an imidazolium based ionic liquid. Both experimental and theoretical results show that the electrical resistance R of the composite exhibits non-monotonic dependence on the compression/decompression force F. By developing theoretical model that accounts for the deformations of the conductive phase that consist of the carbon nano-tube bundles binded by the occluded rubber material, we study the electrical response of filled rubbers in the presence of the applied force varying with time according to given lows. The demonstrated good agreement between the theory and experiment speaks in favor of adequateness of the developed theoretical approach.

Biography :

Alexander I Chervanyov obtained his PhD from Kharkov National University in 1995. After earning his PhD, he has held the Research Associate positions at the Max-Planck-Institute of Complex System Dresden, Chemical Engineering Department of Pittsburgh University and Chemistry Department of the University of Virginia. Starting from 2005, Alexander has been working in Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden as a senior scientist. Currently, Alexander is enjoying research stay in the Centre for BioNano Interactions at UCD Dublin as a visiting researcher. Alexander works on technologically/biologically relevant application of nano-particle-polymer composites.