Ultrasound‐Driven Filler Network Reconstruction for High‐Performance Self‐Strengthening Elastomer

Abstract

ABSTRACT The development of elastomer composite is persistently challenged by the difficulty in balancing its mutually conflicting properties, namely tensile strength, toughness, rolling resistance, wet skid resistance, and abrasion resistance. Inspired by ultrasound‐induced self‐strengthening strategies, this study developed high‐performance natural rubber (NR) composites by employing ultrasound to reconstruct the silica (SiO 2 ) filler network. The results demonstrated that appropriate ultrasonic treatment effectively broke down the original SiO 2 aggregates and facilitated the formation of a newly generated, more uniform filler network with a porous morphology. This reconstructed filler network was characterized by weakened filler‐filler interactions, evidenced by a reduced Payne effect, and significantly enhanced filler‐rubber interactions, indicated by an increase in bound rubber content from 31.7% to 43.9% and improved SiO 2 dispersion. Consequently, the optimized composite (NR/SiO 2 ‐P900‐A80) achieved a simultaneous enhancement in tensile strength (from 23.3 to 30.5 MPa) and toughness (from 47.1 to 79.0 J/cm 2 ). Remarkably, this method successfully improved wet skid resistance (tan δ at 0°C increased) and abrasion resistance (reduced abrasion volume from 0.87 to 0.57 cm 3 ) without compromising rolling resistance. This work presents a simple, effective, and industrially compatible ultrasound‐assisted strategy for fabricating high‐performance tread rubber by synergistically enhancing key properties through filler network reconstruction.