pps proceeding - Abstract Preview
pps proceeding
Symposium: S07 - Elastomer Materials and Processing
Poster Presentation
 
 

Nano silica from rice husk: How to solve an environmental problem through SBR

Raimonda Pablo (1)*, Mosca Daniel (1), Lesa Ana Ines (1), Mantero Carlos (1)

(1) Facultad de Ingeniería - Instituto de Ensayo de Materiales - Montevideo - Uruguay

It is well known that the mechanical properties of filled rubber materials are enhanced when compared with rubbers alone, as a result of the interactions between the filler and the rubber chains. The most common fillers are Carbon black and amorphous silica. Furthermore, rice is an important crop in Uruguay whose production rises to one million tons per year. For this reason, husk disposal is a serious problem. Regarding a solution to this environmental issue, the authors firstly evaluated the controlled burning of acid pretreated husk to yield reasonable results as SBR rubber reinforcement. In this paper, we demonstrate that we can obtain Nano silica in a very log energetic form, and it can be used as a reformate filler In SBR rubber with mechanical properties very similar to de commercial products. To obtain amorphous Nano silica with the smallest superficial area possible, we first boiled the rice husk during 3 hours and then burn it at controlled temperature (600ºC) to obtain a grayish white residue. This material (RH-A), is allowed to cool down. Afterwards we precipitated silica from caustic solutions of ash, with a mineral acid. The product was centrifuged and washed first with hydro clohidric acid and them with distillated water. The last stage of this process involves drying at 110° C for about 12 hours. The yield of silica in this reaction was 90%. The Nano silica (PNS) obtained was characterized by, XRD, SEM, TEM, EDS, FTIR, TGA, DSC and BET analysis. To produce the rubber compound we made a formulation based on SBR and other components. On this master without accelerant, we added the amount of Nano silica needed to obtain the ratio of 60 pHr. We did the same with a commercial product (CNS), to compare. Finally, we made comparative mechanical tests of all the products obtained by ASTM methods The Nano silica produced by this method and used as filler of SBR rubber showed similar mechanical properties compared to a commercial product.