Green nano bio-synthesis of ZnO/ styrene-butadiene rubber / natural rubber (SBR/ NR) nanocomposite and their assessment by use of curing time and mechanical properties

Abstract

Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) were synthesized using Aloysia Citrodora leaf water extract as a reducing and capping agent in an alkaline medium. UV-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy, Fourier transforms infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, Brunauer– Emmett–Teller (BET), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were used for the evaluation of the synthesized ZnO NPs, scanning electron microscope (SEM) was further used for analyzing the morphology, size, and thermal stability of the particles. The curing time and mechanical features of styrene-butadiene rubber/natural rubber (SBR/NR) regularities, including ZnO NPs, were studied and matched with SBR/NR by using micro-sized (standard) ZnO. The SBR/NR vulcanizate with 0.5 phr (parts per hundred rubber) ZnO NPs showed enhanced curing and mechanical characteristics related to the SBR/NR vulcanizate with 5 phr standard ZnO. FESEM images showed the uniform distribution and good dispersion of ZnO NPs in the nanocomposite. As a result, the mechanical features of the build-up ZnO NPs packed SBR/NR were enhanced. Therefore, ZnO NPs functioned as a curing activator to increase the resulting characteristics of the SBR/NR vulcanizates. The noteworthy point is that the amount of ZnO NPs consumed has a significant decrease compared to the amount of commercial zinc oxide, which is one of the environmental concerns.