ARS | Publication request: PROTEIN NETWORKING IN RUBBER COMPOSITES

Submitted to: American Chemical Society Abstracts
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: April 2, 2004
Publication Date: April 2, 2004
Citation: Jong, L. 2004. Protein networking in rubber composites. Proceedings of American Chemical Society Abstracts. 90:769-770.

Technical Abstract: This work investigates the fractal structure and networking of protein aggregates in rubber composites. Slightly hydrolyzed soy protein aggregates are clusters consisted of ~330 nm particles from SEM image analysis. The aggregates have a low fractal dimension of 1.34 as determined by light scattering in wet state. Rubber composites filled with different amounts of protein aggregates give significant increase in elastic modulus. Cluster-Cluster Aggregation (CCA) model predicts a power law behavior for elastic modulus. The exponent of filler volume fraction is predicted to be ~3.5 when the filler clusters have a fractal dimension of ~1.8. Above the percolation threshold, the small strain storage modulus of protein composite vs. volume fraction gives a slope of ~2.6 in good agreement with CCA model prediction when the fractal dimension of protein aggregates is used. Comparison with other rubber composites at rubber plateau region indicates soy protein composites have higher elastic modulus at same volume fraction, implying higher elastic modulus in dry protein clusters.