Effect of graphene oxide/multi-walled carbon nanotubes on the properties of natural rubber and experimental research

Graphene oxide (GO) and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) are widely used in rubber fillers due to their good mechanical properties and thermal conductivity. In order to increase the vulcanization efficiency and improve the physical properties of natural rubber, a GO/MWCNTs rubber composite was prepared by mixing graphene oxide and multi-walled carbon nanotubes with rubber in different proportions. Through testing the phy-sical properties of the rubber compound and the vulcanized rubber, it is concluded that there is a synergistic effect between MWCNTs filler and GO filler, and different ratios of GO and MWCNTs have different effects on the performance of the rubber compound. When MWCNTs filler is added quantitatively at 6wt%, with the increase of GO content: the maximum torque M_H of the vulcanized rubber and the crosslinking density ΔM value increased; the scorch time t_c10 and the normal vulcanization time t_c90 decreased first, and t_c90 rose slightly after 3wt%. When the content of GO and MWCNTs are 3wt% and 6wt%, the improvement of vulcanization efficiency is most obvious; when the two are added at 6wt% at the same time, the thermal conductivity of the compound and the vulcanized rubber are increased by 25.1% and 23.3% respectively; the 100% of the vulcanized rubber is fixed. Tensile stress and 300% constant elongation stress have a rising trend, and slightly decrease after 3wt%. Taken together, when GO and MWCNTs are added at 3wt% and 6wt%, respectively, the filler particles have the best reinforcement effect on the rubber. Its good thermal conductivity enhances the uniformity of the vulcanization reaction and realizes energy saving and consumption reduction in the vulcanization process.