Title : Preparation and characterization of coarse wool reinforced natural rubber green composite
Abstract:
In the reported work, coarse wool fibre was mixed with natural rubber (NR) at equal proportion in two roll mixing machine and subsequently wool- NR composite was prepared using a compression moulding machine. The physico-mechanical properties such as tensile strength, areal density, hardness, thermal stability, water diffusion, moisture absorption, etc were analyzed. The composites were further characterized for its surface morphology, curing characteristics, accelerated aging properties, ultraviolet resistance, X-Ray Diffraction analysis (XRD), and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). The results were compared with bare vulcanized rubber (VR). It is inferred that, while adding wool in the NR matrix, the time taken for the vulcanization got considerably reduced. Though the wool – NR composite showed reduction in tensile strength in comparison with VR, the tear strength, hardness, areal density, and Young’s modulus were found to be improved. Thermal analysis of the composite depicted that the incorporation of wool fibre has caused an improvement in the thermal stability of the composite in comparison with the vulcanized rubber.
