PMID- 37050382
OWN - NLM
STAT- PubMed-not-MEDLINE
LR  - 20230415
IS  - 2073-4360 (Electronic)
IS  - 2073-4360 (Linking)
VI  - 15
IP  - 7
DP  - 2023 Apr 1
TI  - Enhancing Natural Rubber Tearing Strength by Mixing Ultra-High Molecular Weight 
      Polyethylene Short Fibers.
LID - 10.3390/polym15071768 [doi]
LID - 1768
AB  - Rubber products generally need to have high resistance to abrasion, tear, and 
      cutting. Filling short fiber with strong mechanical properties and forming a net 
      in the rubber matrix is a good method to realize the above aims. In this article, 
      ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) short fibers with a diameter of 
      20 mum and a length of 2 cm were filled into natural rubber (NR) to improve the 
      tear strength of the NR. The influence of the short fiber mass fraction and 
      vulcanization conditions on the mechanical properties of the composites were 
      investigated. The results show that the milling process and vulcanization 
      conditions are key factors in enhancing tear resistance performance. Double-roll 
      milling and vulcanization at 143  degrees C for 40 min result in strong interfacial 
      adhesion between the UHMWPE short fibers and the NR. The addition of 2 phr of 
      UHMWPE fiber increases the tear strength of the composite material by up to 
      150.2% (from 17.1 kN/m to 42.8 kN/m) while also providing excellent comprehensive 
      performance. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) imaging confirmed that the UHMWPE 
      short fibers are dispersed in the NR matrix homogeneously, and the interface is 
      close and compact. As a control experiment, UHMWPE resin powder was directly 
      filled into the NR, and then the composite was vulcanized using the same process 
      as that used for the NR/UHMWPE short fiber composite. The results show that the 
      mechanical strength of the NR/resin powder composite exhibits minor improvement 
      compared with NR. As there is no complicated surface modification of the UHMWPE 
      fiber, the results reported may be helpful in improving the tear resistance of 
      the industrially prepared rubber conveyor belts.
FAU - He, Jun
AU  - He J
AD  - College of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, 
      Hangzhou 310014, China.
FAU - Huang, Baoyuan
AU  - Huang B
AD  - Linhai Weixing New Construction Materials Co., Ltd., Taizhou 317016, China.
FAU - Wang, Liang
AU  - Wang L
AD  - College of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, 
      Hangzhou 310014, China.
FAU - Cai, Zunling
AU  - Cai Z
AD  - College of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, 
      Hangzhou 310014, China.
FAU - Zhang, Jing
AU  - Zhang J
AD  - College of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, 
      Hangzhou 310014, China.
FAU - Feng, Jie
AU  - Feng J
AD  - College of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, 
      Hangzhou 310014, China.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
DEP - 20230401
PL  - Switzerland
TA  - Polymers (Basel)
JT  - Polymers
JID - 101545357
PMC - PMC10099356
OTO - NOTNLM
OT  - UHMWPE
OT  - conveyor belt
OT  - natural rubber
OT  - short fiber
OT  - tear resistance
COIS- The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.
EDAT- 2023/04/14 06:00
MHDA- 2023/04/14 06:01
PMCR- 2023/04/01
CRDT- 2023/04/13 01:29
PHST- 2023/01/26 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2023/03/24 00:00 [revised]
PHST- 2023/03/29 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2023/04/14 06:01 [medline]
PHST- 2023/04/13 01:29 [entrez]
PHST- 2023/04/14 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2023/04/01 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - polym15071768 [pii]
AID - polymers-15-01768 [pii]
AID - 10.3390/polym15071768 [doi]
PST - epublish
SO  - Polymers (Basel). 2023 Apr 1;15(7):1768. doi: 10.3390/polym15071768.