Ternary nanocomposites of styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR), polybutadiene, and carbon black*

Ternary nanocomposites offer a challenge to understand dispersion and properties. Filler particles can uniformly disperse if the matrix is homogeneous, act as a Pickering emulsifying agent and coalesce at the interface between phases or locate preferentially to one of two immiscible phases. For a block copolymer (SBR) component the situation can be further complicated by partial microphase separation. The latter situation is found to exist in the materials studied. A detailed justification for the proposed resulting structure, and quantified dispersion is presented based on thermal analysis, microscopy, and X-ray scattering.