TY - JOUR

T1 - Exploring tire crumb as activator for sulfur vulcanization

AU - Guzmán, Manuel

AU - Agullõ, Núria

AU - Giese, Ulrich

AU - Borrõs, Salvador

PY - 2013/8/20

Y1 - 2013/8/20

N2 - In this study, a new approach to reduce the environmental effects of end of life and waste rubber and, at the same time, to minimize the ZnO levels in rubber compounds is presented. The use of tire crumb as activator for sulfur vulcanization is investigated. To give an insight into the reaction mechanism, the approach is tested using model compound vulcanization (MCV) with squalene as a model molecule. The results showed that the use of the new recipe does not alter the kinetics of the vulcanization and that the cross-link degree achieved is nearly equivalent to using ZnO. However, in real rubber mixtures [natural rubber (NR), butadiene rubber (BR), and styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR)], there is not a correlation between the promising characteristics seen in MCV and the actual performance of tire crumb. The extent of cross-linking is significantly lower and the mechanical properties are worst in most of the cases. In spite of that, the results found in MCV suggest that further research should be carried out in order to take advantage of the features observed by improving or facilitating the interaction between the chemicals present in the tire crumb and the ingredients added to the rubber matrix.

AB - In this study, a new approach to reduce the environmental effects of end of life and waste rubber and, at the same time, to minimize the ZnO levels in rubber compounds is presented. The use of tire crumb as activator for sulfur vulcanization is investigated. To give an insight into the reaction mechanism, the approach is tested using model compound vulcanization (MCV) with squalene as a model molecule. The results showed that the use of the new recipe does not alter the kinetics of the vulcanization and that the cross-link degree achieved is nearly equivalent to using ZnO. However, in real rubber mixtures [natural rubber (NR), butadiene rubber (BR), and styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR)], there is not a correlation between the promising characteristics seen in MCV and the actual performance of tire crumb. The extent of cross-linking is significantly lower and the mechanical properties are worst in most of the cases. In spite of that, the results found in MCV suggest that further research should be carried out in order to take advantage of the features observed by improving or facilitating the interaction between the chemicals present in the tire crumb and the ingredients added to the rubber matrix.

KW - elastomers

KW - recycling

KW - rubber

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84883054962&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1002/app.39508

DO - 10.1002/app.39508

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:84883054962

VL - 130

SP - 2809

EP - 2820

JO - Journal of applied polymer science

JF - Journal of applied polymer science

SN - 0021-8995

IS - 4

ER -