Nano-TiO2 anchored carbon nanohelices as reinforcing/anti-aging filler for styrene-butadiene rubber

In the current work, TiO 2 nanoparticles (19 nm) were anchored on the surface of helical carbon nanofibers (HCNFs) by covalent bonds and in-situ method. The resulting HCNFs@TiO 2 hybrids were used in reinforcing styrene-butadiene rubber 1500E (SBR) via melt-blending. The results show that there are strong interfacial interactions between the HCNFs@TiO 2 and SBR composites due to the uniform dispersion of HCNFs@TiO 2 in the SBR composites. Compared with SBR/CB (control) composites, the tensile strength and elongation at break of SBR/HCNFs@TiO 2 composites (3 phr HCNFs@TiO 2 ) were increased by 15.0% and 25.1%, respectively. After the UV-aging test, SBR/HCNFs@TiO 2 composites (3 phr HCNFs@TiO 2 ) could exhibit 17.1 MPa of tensile strength and 503.3% of elongation at break, while CB/SBR composites could only maintain 8.9 MPa of tensile strength and 154.8% elongation at break. Ultimately, the excellent comprehensive performance of SBR composites indicates that HCNFs@TiO 2 hybrids can effectively reinforce rubber composites as new functional filler. • A novel HCNFs@TiO 2 nanofiller is fabricated through in-situ growth methods. • A new strategy to improve the agglomeration of TiO 2 nanoparticles. • Low HCNFs@TiO 2 addition can improve significantly mechanical properties of SBR. • HCNFs@TiO 2 also ameliorates the anti-UV aging performance resistance of SBR.