Nanocomposite of Fullerenes and Natural Rubbers: MARTINI Force Field Molecular Dynamics Simulations

The mechanical properties of natural rubber (NR) composites depend on many factors, including the filler loading, filler size, filler dispersion, and filler-rubber interfacial interactions. Thus, NR composites with nano-sized fillers have attracted a great deal of attention for improving properties such as stiffness, chemical resistance, and high wear resistance. Here, a coarse-grained (CG) model based on the MARTINI force field version 2.1 has been developed and deployed for simulations of cis-1,4-polyisoprene (cis-PI). The model shows qualitative and quantitative agreement with the experiments and atomistic simulations. Interestingly, only a 0.5% difference with respect to the experimental result of the glass transition temperature (T(g)) of the cis-PI in the melts was observed. In addition, the mechanical and thermodynamical properties of the cis-PI-fullerene(C(60)) composites were investigated. Coarse-grained molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of cis-PI-C(60) composites with varying fullerene concentrations (0–32 parts per hundred of rubber; phr) were performed over 200 microseconds. The structural, mechanical, and thermal properties of the composites were determined. The density, bulk modulus, thermal expansion, heat capacity, and T(g) of the NR composites were found to increase with increasing C(60) concentration. The presence of C(60) resulted in a slight increasing of the end-to-end distance and radius of the gyration of the cis-PI chains. The contribution of C(60) and cis-PI interfacial interactions led to an enhancement of the bulk moduli of the composites. This model should be helpful in the investigations and design of effective fillers of NR-C(60) composites for improving their properties.