Natural rubber/rutile-TiO2 nanocomposites (NR/n-TiO2(R) composites) with different n-TiO2(R) contents
were prepared. The n-TiO2(R) with median particle size (d50) of 73 nm was successfully prepared from
commercial micron-TiO2(R) by ultrasonication. NR incorporated with n-TiO2(R) shows the good performance
in mechanical properties as well as UV-protection and antibacterial properties. The mechanical
performance of NR/n-TiO2(R) composites was enhanced with an increase of n-TiO2(R) content up to the
optimum content at 5 phr (parts per hundred parts of rubber) and then declined. In addition, the
prepared NR/n-TiO2(R) composites possess the UV-protection material. The UV-protection property of
NR nanocomposites was evaluated by measuring the evolution of carbonyl absorption band from ATRFTIR
spectra, surface cracking, and mechanical properties after UV irradiation. The presence of n-
TiO2(R) exhibits significant improvement in photo-degradation by UV irradiation compared to the
unfilled NR. More importantly, the obtained NR/n-TiO2(R) composites demonstrate effective antibacterial
property against Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), the strong antibacterial
property of the prepared NR nanocomposites was obtained at the only loading level of 1 phr of n-TiO2(R).
The prepared NR/n-TiO2(R) composites could be used as a novel antibacterial material