Morphology, antimicrobial and mechanical properties of nano-tiO ₂/rubber composites prepared by direct blending

The antimicrobial and mechanical properties and micro-morphology of nano-TiO₂/rubber composites, prepared by directly blending nano-TiO₂ with rubber, were analyzed. Two kinds of nano-TiO ₂ powders were used wherein one is composed of 99% anatase crystal and has the diameter of 20-40 nm, which is denoted by BT and the other is P25 which consisted of 70% anatase crystals and 30% rutile crystals. The TiO ₂/rubber compounds were mixed on a tow-roll miller and subsequently, these compounds were cured at 150°C for their optimal curing time to obtain cross-linked TiO₂-rubber composites. The thermal oxidative aging experiments were performed at 100°C for NR or 120°C for NBR for 72h. The resulting composites were endowed with good antimicrobial ability by compounding small amount of nano-TiO₂ with rubber.