Rheological properties of carbon nanotubes-reinforced magnetorheological elastomer

Magnetorheological elastomer (MRE) based on the natural rubber with different types of multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) as additives were synthesized. MRE with pristine MWCNTs was prepared as a control and the carboxylated (MWCNT-COOH), as well as hydroxylated (MWCNT-OH) were introduced as new additives in MRE. Their rheological properties under different magnetic field were evaluated by using the rheometer (MCR 302, AntonPaar, Austria) equipped with the electromagnetic device. The dependency of MREs towards excitation frequencies under different magnetic field was investigated. It is shown that the storage modulus and loss factor of MRE with functionalized MWCNTs exhibited noticeable increment in MR performance compared to control parallel with the frequencies increment.