Rational design of covalent interfaces for graphene/elastomer nanocomposites

The energy loss of tires during service is closely related to the hysteresis of tire tread, which is governed by the dispersion and interface of the elastomer nanocomposites. However, traditional undeformable spherical fillers have approached a bottleneck in regulating the viscoelasticity and lowering the hysteresis loss. Herein, the designed covalent interface in the graphene/elastomer nanocomposite maximizes the reinforcement of the nanomaterial as well as minimizes the dynamic energy loss. The reinforced interfacial interaction, an ultralow percolation threshold of tensile strength and high reinforcement synergistically benefit these nano-organized rubber nanocomposites. The energy losses under dynamic loading are largely suppressed in this material, due to the reduced nano-scale frictions. The developed graphene/elastomer nanocomposites are applied to typical dynamic rubber product - auto tires, and the tests indicate that these tires possess energy efficiency close to the highest “A-grade”, which gave great economic and environmental improvements. The critical role of interface structure in the performance of the elastomer nanocomposites was revealed and new design strategy for low dynamic energy losses in rubber products was suggested.