Investigation of Vibration Damping Characteristics of Natural Rubber Composites Reinforced with Waste Carbonaceous Fillers

The present work aims to utilize two different waste carbonaceous fillers, i.e., recycled carbon black (RCB) (industrial waste) and recycled graphite (RGP) (Battery waste), for the fabrication of vibration damping composites. Three types of composites were prepared, i.e., Neat NR, NR/RCB20, and NR/RGP20, using natural rubber (NR) matrix according to the standard ASTM D 3182-21a. The physical and mechanical properties of developed composites were investigated as per the standard ASTM D792-20 and ASTM D412-16. Moreover, the interfacial damping mechanism between polymer matrix, RCB, and RGP fillers was studied by determining vibration-damping properties as per standard ASTM E756-05. Furthermore, the influence of different parameters, such as particle size, carbon content, and surface area, of carbonaceous fillers on the resulting damping characteristics of developed composites was investigated through SEM, CHNS, and BET analysis. The result suggests that with the addition of 20 phr of RCB and RGP in the polymer matrix, the density of NR/RCB20 and NR/RGP20 composites were increased by ~ 7.08% and ~ 14.68%, respectively. Moreover, the mechanical and vibration damping properties of NR/RCB20 and NR/RGP20 composites show better performance than Neat NR composite.