Synthesis of Rubber-Silica Composites by Sol-Gel Method in the Presence of Modified Rubber Latex Containing Triethoxysilyl Group

Novel synthesis method of silica-rubber composites were developed by sol-gel method with triethoxysilyl-modified polymer. This method could be applied to both of silica-SBR and silica-CR. In the both case of SBR and CR, mechanical properties such as tensile modulus were improved with an increase of the amount of modified polymer. SEM observation for these composites suggested that particle size of silica dispersed in unvulcanized rubber matrix became larger with the decrease of the silica content.