The effects of three silane coupling agents, triethoxy(octyl)silane (TEOS), bis[3-(triethoxysilyl)propyl]disulfide (TESPD), and bis[3-(triethoxysilyl)propyl]tetrasulfide (TESPT) on the filler-rubber interaction, crosslink density and crosslink structure of the silica-filled solution styrene butadiene rubber (SSBR) vulcanizates were studied. High dispersion silica, 7000GR, was used as the filler, and the loading range was varied from 0 to 60 phr. Crosslink density was measured by the swelling method. Experimental results showed that Kraus plot can be applicable to the silica-filled SSBR vulcanizates to separate filler-rubber interaction from the measured swelling data. Filler-rubber interaction increased by increasing sulfur rank in the silane as TEOS < Silica without silanes < TESPD < TESPT. Sulfurless silane, i.e. TEOS, only worked as a covering agent for hydrophobating silica surface. Silica without silane show high filler-rubber interaction than TEOS system because chain-end functionalized SSBR was used in this study. Unfilled system showed similar amounts of poly, di, and mono-sulfidic crosslinks. On the contrary to this, all of the silica-filled vulcanizates showed high mono-sulfide contents due to longer cure time.

Styrene-butadiene-glycidyl methacrylate terpolymer (GMA-SBR) was synthesized by emulsion polymerization for the fuel efficient tire tread composite. The chemical structure of the GMA-SBR was analyzed using infrared spectroscopy, ¹H NMR, gel permeation chromatography, and differential scanning calorimetry. The GMA-SBR/silica composite is the first instance introduced covalent bonds between silica filler and rubber molecules by in-chain modification of styrene-butadiene molecules. After compounding, the curing characteristics, the mechanical and dynamic mechanical properties of the composites were analyzed. The GMA-SBR/silica composite exhibited higher wear resistance of 32.9% and lower rolling resistance of 25.7% than the styrene-butadiene rubber 1721/silica composite. These results are due to the improvement of silica dispersion in the composite as the covalent bonding increased the filler–rubber interaction and the countervailing effects of less filler flocculation. The proposed approach assists in finding a solution to improve the performances of tires for fuel efficiency and the reduction of greenhouse gases from the vehicles.

We have synthesized single-chain polymeric nanoparticles through the intramolecular formation of copper phthalocyanines from polystyrene-co-poly[4-((4-vinylbenzyl)oxy)phthalonitrile] under diluted conditions. Linear copolymer precursors carrying phthalonitrile pendant groups were prepared by reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization followed by intramolecular macrocyclization reactions to form Cu-metallated phthalocyanines, which concurrently enabled single chain nanoparticle formation. The preparation of copper phthalocyanines within a single chain nanoparticle was confirmed using FT-IR and UV/Vis spectroscopy. The intramolecular chain collapse was characterized by SEC and AFM.