Plasma surface modification of rubber ingredients

When rubbers with different levels of unsaturation/polarity are blended, the fillers and curatives move to a phase with higher level of unsaturation/polarity leading to the over-reinforcement and over-cure of that phase. The project focuses on surface modification of fillers and curatives by a novel plasma polymerization technique. By this technique the surface of fillers and curatives can be tailored to match the surface energy of the rubber in the blend, thereby achieving a homogeneous distribution of the fillers and curatives between the phases in the blend.