| abstract |
Disclosed herein are rubber compositions comprising a conjugated diene-containing polymer, a reinforcing filler including silica, a bi-functional silane coupling agent, and an unsaturated, non-sulfur silane coupling agent, where the ratio of the bi-functional silane coupling agent to the unsaturated, non-sulfur silane coupling agent is from about 5:1 to about 20:1. Also disclosed are related methods which include both in-situ reaction of the silica filler and the unsaturated, non-sulfur silane coupling agent and pre-reacting of at least a portion of the silica filler and at least a portion of the unsaturated, non-sulfur silane coupling agent. |