Rubber-based lightweight nanocomposites: spectroscopic characterization

Abstract

Carbon nanofiller-based rubber nanocomposites have gained considerable attention in academia and industries because of their suitability in various applications, including automobiles, sports, aerospace, medical, and structural components. The addition of carbon nanofillers, such as carbon nanotubes, graphene, carbon fibers, carbon black, and graphite, helps in tuning the electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, barrier properties, and mechanical properties of rubbers. Some of these characteristics and properties of rubber nanocomposites can be studied using spectroscopic techniques. These techniques are rapid, nondestructive, highly sensitive, and provide molecular-level information. Various spectroscopic techniques, such as Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), etc., have been adopted that provide information on the dispersion of fillers, interfacial interactions, molecular bonds, orientations, elemental compositions, impurities, etc. This chapter provides an overview of the use of FTIR, Raman, XPS, and NMR spectroscopies in the characterization and analysis of carbon nanofiller-rubber composites. © 2026 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved..