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grapheneThe Beauty of Graphene nanoplatelets improving Tyre Performance properties

The KGP Chronicle (June 4, 2021)

A recent study has investigated the effect of nanofillers on air impermeability properties of Brominated isobutylene-isoprene rubber (BIIR)/ Epoxidized natural rubber (ENR) blend for automotive applications.

A team of researchers led by Prof Kinsuk Naskar from Rubber Technology Centre at IIT Kharagpur along with his student, Ms. Aswathy T R and the collaborator, Mr. Sujith Nair, the vice president of R&D, CEAT Tyre Limited have developed rubber nanocomposites by blending BIIR with ENR 25 and ENR 50 (25% and 50% epoxidation) at the optimized weight proportion, and thereafter different levels of carbon black have been replaced by graphene nanoparticles (GNP). Melt mixing method has been adopted to prepare the composites. The paper has been published by Willey, a publishing company (DOI: 10.1002/pat.4958).

Researchers have studied the morphology and the properties of nanocomposites in details. The rubber composites are hereby developed possess very high air permeability along with other physical properties required for barrier applications such as tyre inner-liners and rubber bottle stoppers. The barrier properties of BIIR-ENR 50 composites without GNP show a 30% improvement in air impermeability compared to BIIR-ENR 25 composites. Further, the BIIR-ENR 50 composites reinforced with GNP shows a further 20% improvement from the reference composite. (Read More)