Abstract
Natural rubber (NR)/attapulgite (ATP) composites was prepared via combination latex compounding and melt mixing. Ball
milling method was tailored to improve the ATP dispersion before compounded with latex. The aim of this paper is to investigate
the effect of ball milling parameters and operating conditions which were focusing on ball mill size and ball mill ratio on the
tensile and morphological properties of NR/ATP composites. Mechanical testing such as tensile test and hardness test were
subjected to the samples. The composite was characterized with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to reveal the effect of ball
milling parameters on the morphological properties of the composites. Swelling measurement was done to determine the
crosslink density of the composites. A ball to weight ratio (BPR) of 1:5 and large size ball mill were found as the optimized
milling parameters for NR/ATP composites.
© 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.
Peer-review under responsibility of School of Materials and Mineral Resources Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia.
Keywords: ball milling; masterbatch; natural rubber composites; attapulgite.