Structure–property relationships of ‘safe’ aromatic oil based passenger car tire tread rubber compounds

摘要

In this study, the effect of Treated Distillate Aromatic Extract (TDAE) was investigated in medium styrene/high vinyl solution styrene butadiene rubber (S-SBR) and high cis-polybutadiene rubber (BR). Three properties were evaluated: (i) molecular structure (polarity/aromaticity), (ii) molecular weight and (iii) chemical reactivity of the TDAE oil. The fore-mentioned properties of the oil allow the prediction of its behavior in a rubber compound. It was known from literature that the addition of oil causes a shift in the glass transition temperature (Tg) of the compound [2]. Therefore, the study was focused on the variation in the α-relaxation process or Tg of a rubber compound upon addition of TDAE. The conventional techniques for determination of Tg such as Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA) as well as more sophisticated relaxation studies using Broadband Dielectric Spectroscopy (BDS) were used to characterize the TDAE-extended S-SBR and BR compounds. Theoretical prediction of the Tg of TDAE-extended compounds was obtained based on the Fox equation for miscible mixtures. Ultimately, the theoretical predictions were correlated with experimental findings.