Abstract
Two types of composites based on natural rubber (NR) and strontium ferrite were tested in this study. Composites of the first type were prepared by incorporation of strontium ferrite in the concentration range ranging from 0 to 100 phr (parts per hundred rubber) into pure NR based rubber matrix, while with those of the second type, strontium ferrite was dosed in the same concentration level into NR based rubber batch with constant amount of carbon black — 25 phr. For rubber matrices cross-linking, a standard sulfur based curing system was used. This work is focused on the effect of magnetic filler content on physico-mechanical, magnetic and thermo-physical properties of composite materials. Subsequently, the cross-link density and the structure of the formed sulfidic cross-links were examined. The results showed that the cross-link density of both types of composites increased with the increasing content of magnetic filler, while the structure of the sulfidic cross-links was almost not influenced by the amount of strontium ferrite. Tensile strength of rubber composites with pure rubber matrix was slightly improved by the incorporation of ferrite, while in case of composites based on a carbon black batch, the incorporation of magnetic filler resulted in the decrease of this characteristic. The presence of magnetic filler in both types of composites leads to a significant increase of the remanent magnetic induction.