Graphite is a crystalline form of carbon which has attracted the academic and industrial interest. It has
been used as reinforcing filler that can produce highly effective improvement for rubber. This article
presents and discusses the development of graphite-based rubber composites and their applications in
industries which have been used extensively as reinforcing fillers. Increasing reinforcement of the rubber
material leads to an increase in stiffness, modulus, tear strength, cracking resistance, tensile strength,
abrasion resistance, and fatigue resistance. Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) technique has
been utilized for determination of hardness and analysis of rubber polymers doped with Graphite filler.
Different samples of natural rubber with different graphite filler concentration have been measured. A
linear relationship between sample hardness and filler concentration is shown by the conventional
hardness measurement techniques and has been demonstrated by LIBS technique too. Other laserinduced
plasma parameters such as the electronic density and temperature as a function of time are
determined. The same selectivity and ability to excite emission were revealed through measurements
using LIBS, and thus the qualitative analysis capability of other techniques was confirmed. |
