STUDY ON DISPERSION MORPHOLOGY OF SILICA IN RUBBER

A new model of silica's aggregation in rubber, the Hexagon-linking Mod el, is proposed and tested in this study, using transmitting, scanning and analytical electron microscopy. When wetted in rubber, silica ten ds to accumulate, by way of hexagonal rings, differently from carbon b lack; the ''wetted'' states can be controlled through mixing procedure s. The experimental evidence that aggregation of silica (original size of 20 nm) precedes to a final size of 63.8 nm, as compared to a theor etical value of 60 nm, supports the theoretical model. The wetted fill er structure can be controlled by the mixing process, and hence desire d composite properties can be achieved.