Pyrolysed Carbon-Silica Filler Obtained by Pyrolysis-Cum-Water Vapour of Waste Green Tires vs. Conventional Fillers. Comparison of Their Effects Upon the Properties of Epoxidized Natural Rubber Based Vulcanizates

摘要

Pyrolysed carbon-silica filler (PCSF) has been obtained via pyrolysis cum water vapour of waste "green " tire treads. Weight analyses as well as AAS and ICP-OES analyses show that PCSF consists of 60% of silica, 36% of carbon black, 2.5% of zinc oxide and of about 1.5% of different oxides. As FTIR spectra and TEM micrographs show, the selected pyrolysis conditions allow silica and carbon black used as fillers in tires manufacturing to preserve their particle size and surface chemical activity in the pyrolysed product. The vulcanization characteristics, mechanical and dynamic properties of composites based on epoxidized natural rubber reinforced with the pyrolysed carbon-silica filler (PCSF) have been studied in comparison to those of analogous composites comprising conventional fillers. It has been established that the vulcanization characteristics, mechanical and dynamic properties of the studied rubber compounds and vulcanizates filled with PCSF are commensurable, even in some cases improved, in comparison to those of the composites comprising the conventional fillers.