Effects of Carbonised Coir on Physical Properties of Natural Rubber Composites

In this study, carbonised coir (CC), was used as a filler in Natural Rubber, varying the loadings between 0 and 50phr at intervals of 10. Carbon black (CB) was also used within the same range of filler loadings. Filler for composites was characterised on the basis of moisture content, pH, loss on ignition, density, and particles size. The physical properties of the composite samples prepared were investigated. The results of the tests obtained for the composites using the carbonised coir were compared with those obtained from carbon black reinforced composites. It was observed that for hardness, the results obtained from composites of studied filler (CC) compared relatively well with the carbon black (CB) reinforced composites. The hardness for all samples maintained an increasing trend with increase in the filler loadings. For the tensile strength and modulus there were no sharp increases shown with increase in filler loading. The results from tests for elongation at break, compression set and flex fatigue showed a falling trend for the test fillers as the filler loadings were increased.