Influence of Сharacteristics of Glass Microspheres on the Vulcanization Process of Rubber Composites Used as Heat Protective Materials

Abstract

Abstract: The influence of grades, surface area and particle size distribution (D₅₀) of mineral hollow microspheres on the parameters of the vulcanization process of elastomeric compositions used as fire- and heat-protective materials has been studied. The possibility of regulating the kinetics of vulcanization by varying the size and surface area of microspheres is shown. The regularities of change of activation energy and reaction rate of vulcanization of compositions including microspheres of different manufacturers and differing values of surface area have been established. It was found that the change of activation energy and curing reaction rate linearly depends on the size (D₅₀) of glass microspheres. The possibility of controlling kinetically the parameters of vulcanization due to the directional effect of the type and geometric parameters of microspheres was shown.