Facile preparation of Cross-linked polyester composite rubber with excellent mechanical strength and high toughness by loading adjustable Low-cost clay

Preparing polymeric elastomer materials with high strength, high toughness yet low energy dissipation has been a long-standing challenge. In this work, we report a dual synergistic strengthening strategy, based on building a vulcanized cross-linked network and regulating nano clay loading, for preparing a novel butyl phenyl polyester nano clay composite rubber. The molecular monomers 2-hydroxyethyl acrylate (HEA) and acrylonitrile (AN) were grafted on the rubber molecular chains, which facilitated the optimization of the crosslinking of the flexible segments. Meanwhile, a rigid unit-flexible chain segment network structure is constructed by regulating the grafting of functionally modified ball clay (BC) in the molecular chain segments. This cross-linking and filling structure provides maximum resistance to energy loss and reinforces the mechanical properties of the composite rubber. Experiments confirmed that BC strengthens the intermolecular forces through Si-O bond and Si-N bond on the macromolecular chain. Compared with raw rubber, the composite rubber with BC loading of 20 wt% has a 327.3% increase in tensile strength and a 249.5% increase in toughness, and presents huge advantages in fatigue resistance and environmental stability, yet the BC filler has extremely low cost. This work provides a new insight in creating rubber/nano clay composites with excellent mechanical strength and dynamic properties, showing high potential for industrialization.