Chapter 1
Rubbery Materials and Soft
Nanocomposites
Abstract Rubbers are to be vulcanized and reinforced for their applications. Vulcanization is the most important prerequisite for displaying a stable rubber elasticity for
practical utilization, while rubber reinforcement is to meet the demands of practical
uses in terms of mechanical and some other functional requirements. Among lots of
ingredients for rubber compounding, carbon black (CB) was found to afford several
crucial characteristics for rubber tires as well as mechanical strength, early in the
twentieth century. Since then, CB has been the most important filler for rubber industry, and the natural rubber (NR)-CB combination pioneered a new concept, polymer
composite, together with the use of the rubber/fiber composition. This chapter gives
a highly scientific but still general introduction to rubber reinforcement by means of
filler. Traditional approaches are briefly described, too, from a retrospective point of
view, which are expected to afford an excellent base for a modern approach to rubber
reinforcement in this century.
Keywords Vulcanization · Reinforcement of rubber · Filler · Carbon black ·
Nanocomposite
1.1 Introduction to Rubber Reinforcement
The rubbery material, which we generally note in our everyday life, is actually a
rubber vulcanizate, i.e., a chemically cross-linked rubber [1–4]. We are reasonably
assuming that the vulcanization, or the cross-linking in general, is a precondition for
raw rubber to make it serviceable as an elastic solid material, except a few special
cases, e.g., rubber adhesives (technically a solution of uncross-linked rubber). In
addition, we assume that many rubber products are containing carbon black (CB),
since we observe most of them being black in color, typically when seeing the tires of
aircraft, automobiles, and bicycles daily. Thus, we generally acknowledge the carbon
black-loaded rubber vulcanizate as ‘rubber.’
Above observation suggests us that the vulcanization of rubber to form a threedimensional (3D) rubber network structure and the CB mixing in rubber for the
purpose of reinforcement are the two essential issues for rubber as a stable elastic
material of use, and they have been the central subject in rubber science and in its
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020
S. Kohjiya et al., Reinforcement of Rubber, Springer Series on Polymer
and Composite Materials, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-3789-9_1
3
Rubbery Materials and Soft
Nanocomposites
Abstract Rubbers are to be vulcanized and reinforced for their applications. Vulcanization is the most important prerequisite for displaying a stable rubber elasticity for
practical utilization, while rubber reinforcement is to meet the demands of practical
uses in terms of mechanical and some other functional requirements. Among lots of
ingredients for rubber compounding, carbon black (CB) was found to afford several
crucial characteristics for rubber tires as well as mechanical strength, early in the
twentieth century. Since then, CB has been the most important filler for rubber industry, and the natural rubber (NR)-CB combination pioneered a new concept, polymer
composite, together with the use of the rubber/fiber composition. This chapter gives
a highly scientific but still general introduction to rubber reinforcement by means of
filler. Traditional approaches are briefly described, too, from a retrospective point of
view, which are expected to afford an excellent base for a modern approach to rubber
reinforcement in this century.
Keywords Vulcanization · Reinforcement of rubber · Filler · Carbon black ·
Nanocomposite
1.1 Introduction to Rubber Reinforcement
The rubbery material, which we generally note in our everyday life, is actually a
rubber vulcanizate, i.e., a chemically cross-linked rubber [1–4]. We are reasonably
assuming that the vulcanization, or the cross-linking in general, is a precondition for
raw rubber to make it serviceable as an elastic solid material, except a few special
cases, e.g., rubber adhesives (technically a solution of uncross-linked rubber). In
addition, we assume that many rubber products are containing carbon black (CB),
since we observe most of them being black in color, typically when seeing the tires of
aircraft, automobiles, and bicycles daily. Thus, we generally acknowledge the carbon
black-loaded rubber vulcanizate as ‘rubber.’
Above observation suggests us that the vulcanization of rubber to form a threedimensional (3D) rubber network structure and the CB mixing in rubber for the
purpose of reinforcement are the two essential issues for rubber as a stable elastic
material of use, and they have been the central subject in rubber science and in its
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020
S. Kohjiya et al., Reinforcement of Rubber, Springer Series on Polymer
and Composite Materials, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-3789-9_1
3