A strategy to prepare high performance starch/rubber composites: In situ modification during latex compounding process

Starch/styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) composites were prepared by directly mixing and co-coagulating rubber latex and starch paste, which was in situ modified by resorcinol-formaldehyde(RF) and N-β(aminoethyl)-γ-aminopropyl trimethoxy silane (KH792). Modified starch/SBR composite exhibited excellent comprehensive properties relative to those of the corresponding starch/SBR composite without modification. According to Environmental Scanning Electron Microscopy (ESEM), tensile fractured surfaces of various starch/SBR composites demonstrated better interfacial adhesion achieved by the modification. DMTA showed that starch/SBR composites had only one glass transition of SBR and it shifted to the lower temperature compared to that of pure SBR. The glass transition of modified starch/SBR composites shifted to the higher temperature relative to that of the unmodified one due to the improved interfacial adhesion.