Abstract:
Nano-silica is widely used in industrial fields such as rubber, coatings and adhesives. Dispersion is an important indicator that affects the application properties of nanosilica. The oil absorption value can be used to characterize the branched structure of the nanoparticles and can also be used as an indicator to characterize the dispersion of the nanoparticles. A new method for dealing with precipitated nano-silica particles by high temperature rapid flame was proposed. The influences of flame parameters on the oil absorption value of nano-silica particles were investigated by designing an orthogonal experimental system, and the adsorption of water on the surface of nanoparticles was studied as well. The variation of the adsorption water content on the surface of the nanoparticles and the numbers of surface hydroxyl groups were studied, and the optimized treatment conditions were obtained. Then the processed samples were added into the silicone rubber, which successfully improved the mechanical properties of the silicone rubber. The results showed that high temperature fast flame could reduce the adsorption water content and surface hydroxyl numbers of the nanoparticles. Under the optimized flame treatment process, the adsorbed water mass fraction of nanoparticles decreased by 28.3% and the number of surface hydroxyl groups decreased by 27%, compared with untreated samples. At the same time, the dispersion, reinforcing properties and vulcanization properties of nanoparticles in silicone rubber were studied. The treated samples were used as silicone rubber reinforcing fillers. Compared with untreated samples, the tensile strength of the treated sample was increased by 41.6%, and the tear strength was increased by 100%.