Patent ID: 7432321

Claim:
A method for increasing the hardness of silica/rubber mixtures comprising blending with said mixture at least one silane and a hardness-increasing amount of at least one member selected from the group consisting of thixotropic fumed silica, precipitated silica wherein the total amount of silica is from 80 phr to 110 phr, an MQ resin wherein Q is SiO 4/2 , M is R a R b R c SiO 1/2 , and R a ,R b ,and R c are the same or different functional or non-functional organic groups, a thermoplastic resin selected from the group consisting of high-density polyethylene, ultra high molecular weight polyethylene and low density-polyethylene and a thermosetting resin, wherein the silane is 3-octanoylthio-1-propyltriethoxysilane.