Preparation of reinforced hydroxyl terminated liquid epoxidized natural rubber nanocomposite by grafting of graphene oxide

Abstract

In this research, liquid epoxidized natural rubber (LENR) with active end group which known as hydroxyl terminated liquid epoxidized natural rubber (HTLENR) has been synthesized via oxidative degradation method in the presence of cobalt acetylacetonate (CAA) and sodium borohydride (NaBH4). The conversion of LENR to HTLENR is vital to fully utilise the great properties of this liquid rubber and enable for further chemical modification. The molecular weight of the prepared HTLENR were confirmed using gel permeation chromatography (GPC) and weight average molecular weight (MW) of HTLENR revealed a slight decrease in comparison to MW of LENR at one hour reaction. Whilst the structure of LENR and HTLENR were studied using Fourier transform infra-red (FTIR) and neutron magnetic resonance (NMR). Subsequently graphene oxide (GO) has been inserted onto HTLENR backbone via grafting method. The efficiency of grafting was confirmed using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analysis. HTLENR/GO nanocomposite prepared is important to be serve as a potential toughening agent which can be used in various applications such as aerospace, structural and automotive.