The influence of starch on the properties of carbon-black-filled styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) composites was investigated. When the starch particles were directly melt-mixed into rubber, the stress at 300% elongation and abrasion resistance decreased evidently with increasing starch amount from 5 to 20 phr. Scanning electron microscopy observations of the abrasion surface showed that some apparent craters of starch particles were left on the surface of the composite, which strongly suggested that the starch particles were large and that interfacial adhesion between the starch and rubber was relatively weak. To improve the dispersion of the starch in the rubber matrix, starch/SBR master batches were prepared by a latex compounding method. Compared with the direct mixing of the starch particles into rubber, the incorporation of starch/SBR master batches improved the abrasion resistance of the starch/carbon black/SBR composites. With starch/SBR master batches, no holes of starch particles were left on the surface; this suggested that the interfacial strength was improved because of the fine dispersion of starch. Dynamic mechanical thermal analysis showed that the loss factor at both 0 and 60 degrees C increased with increasing amount of starch at a small tensile deformation of 0.1%, whereas at a large tensile strain of 5%, the loss factor at 60 degrees C decreased when the starch amount was varied from 5 to 20 phr. (C) 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 114: 2254-2260, 2009