Some new developments in rubber reinforcement

The reinforcement of natural rubber provided by in-situ generated silica is compared with that obtained with anisotropic particles such as nanofibers of sepiolite. In addition, the effect of a dual loading is also investigated. Compared with networks filled with a single type of filler (sepiolite or in-situ generated silica), the samples containing two types of fillers display high modulus but less extensibility.