title: Cellulose nanocrystals reinforced foamed nitrile rubber nanocomposites.
abstract: Research on foamed nitrile rubber (NBR)/cellulose nanocrystals (CNs) nanocomposites is rarely found in the literatures. In this paper, CNs suspension and NBR latex was mixed to prepared the foamed NBR/CNs nanocomposites. We found that the CNs mainly located in the cell walls, effectively reinforcing the foamed NBR. The strong interaction between the CNs and NBR matrix restricted the mobility of NBR chains surrounding the CNs, hence increasing the crosslink density of the NBR matrix. CNs exhibited excellent reinforcement on the foamed NBR: a remarkable increase nearly 76% in the tensile strength of the foamed nanocomposites was achieved with a load of only 15 phr CNs. Enhanced mechanical properties make the foamed NBR/CNs nanocomposites a promising damping material for industrial applications with a potential to reduce the petroleum consumption.
authors.affiliation: The State Key Laboratory of Pulp and Paper Engineering of China (South China University of Technology), Guangzhou 510640, China; The Key Laboratory of Polymer Processing Engineering, Ministry of Education, China (South China University of Technology), Guangzhou, 510640, China.
authors.forename: Yukun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: The State Key Laboratory of Pulp and Paper Engineering of China (South China University of Technology), Guangzhou 510640, China; The Key Laboratory of Polymer Processing Engineering, Ministry of Education, China (South China University of Technology), Guangzhou, 510640, China.
authors.forename: Yuanbing
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: The State Key Laboratory of Pulp and Paper Engineering of China (South China University of Technology), Guangzhou 510640, China; School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Guangxi University, Nanning, 530004, China; The Key Laboratory of Polymer Processing Engineering, Ministry of Education, China (South China University of Technology), Guangzhou, 510640, China. Electronic address: xuhuiyee@gxu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Chuanhui
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: The Key Laboratory of Polymer Processing Engineering, Ministry of Education, China (South China University of Technology), Guangzhou, 510640, China; School of Materials Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, China. Electronic address: caoxd@scut.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Xiaodong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Cao
mesh_terms: D002482:Cellulose / Q000737:chemistry*; D053761:Nanocomposites / Q000737:chemistry*; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D009570:Nitriles / Q000737:chemistry; D012408:Rubber / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D009570:Nitriles; D002482:Cellulose; D012408:Rubber
keywords: Cellulose nanocrystals; Foamed rubber; Nanocomposites; Reinforce