The effects from ageing of materials is important in terms of cost and quality, particularly if the products are to be used under severe weather conditions. In this work, the effect of accelerated ageing in vulcanizable compositions of natural rubber and mica was studied. The amount of the mineral filler employed varied from 0 to 40 phr. The mechanical and dynamic-mechanical properties of different compositions were evaluated as well as crosslink density, before and after ageing, and the results were compared to those obtained for the unfilled composition. It was found that, either before or after ageing, the amount of mica must not exceed 30 phr. It was also concluded that mica is responsible for the protection of natural rubber composites from ageing under the selected conditions. The dynamic mechanical properties obtained from DMTA analysis corroborate the mechanical properties evaluated.
Natural rubber; mica; physical mechanical properties; dynamic mechanical properties ageing
