The Effect of Compatiblization on the Properties of Ultrafine Scrap Tire Rubber andRecycled Thermoplastic Blends

摘要

Thermoset rubber products are more difficult to recycle as compared to thermoplastics. As a result, much of the waste rubber may be landfilled. Although a number of recycling methods exist for thermoset rubber compounds, including tire derived fuel and civil engineering applications, new recycling methods are needed. One method to recycle rubber is to produce crumb rubber by grinding, which can be used in asphalt, or blended with plastics to create rubber toughened products or novel thermoplastic elastomers. Blends of recycled rubber powder and thermoplastics offer the potential for a variety of new applications. The properties of the resulting blends depend on the particle size of the ground rubber, the type of thermoplastic, and compatibilization techniques. This work investigates the effect of ultrafine rubber particle sizes on the properties of a series of recycled thermoplastics and scrap rubber blends. The effect of particle size, loading, and compatiblization on a series of batch mixed compounds is discussed.