Mercaptopropyl-doped ultra-small silica modified GO nanosheets to enhance mechanical properties of nitrile butadiene rubber

Graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets reinforced rubbers had been extensively researched. However, it is very difficult to make GO nanosheets uniformly dispersed in the polar nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR) matrix and non-polar carbon black (CB) simultaneously. The ultra-small mercaptopropyl doped silica ([email protected]2) anchored on the GO nanosheet ([email protected]2-GO) has been synthesized through the condensation of the tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) and (3-Mercaptopropyl)trimethoxysilane (MPTS) monomer. The as-prepared mercaptopropyl doped silica modified graphene oxide has strong interfacial interaction with both the polar NBR matrix and non-polar carbon black nanoparticles. Excitingly, with only 1 phr of GO modified by [email protected]2 has greatly improved the tensile strength of CB/NBR composites from 8.9 MPa to 16.1 MPa.