The relationship of vulcanization and structural characteristics‐dispersion of organoclay‐mechanical properties in (butadiene rubber/natural rubber) based nanocomposite

Nanocomposites based on (organoclay [OC]/butadiene rubber [BR]/natural rubber [NR]) containing different ratio of (sulfur/accelerator [dibenzothiazyl disulfide (MBTS)] or N‐Oxydiethyl‐2‐benzthiazolsulfenamid (NOBS)) were prepared. Evaluation of the vulcanization characteristics showed that the curing system and the type of the used accelerator affected the impact of the OC on the scorch and cure times. The crosslink density and the percentage of polysulfide bonds of the compounds were enhanced by using OC. X‐ray diffraction (XRD) analysis showed that the type of curing system and the used accelerator affected the network structure as well as the expansion of the interlayer space of the OC. In nanocomposites with less crosslink density and less polysulfide bonds, greater expansion of the OC interlayer spaces was observed. The use of the OC and its effect on the level of crosslink density and percent of polysulfide bonds affected the tensile properties and abrasion loss of the samples.