The use of recycled elastomeric materials for sustainability in circular economy. Issue 12 (23rd October 2021) - Kumawat, Pankaj
Abstract: The use of scrapped elastomeric goods primarily service failed or worn‐out tires is a challenging task for the rubber society. To address this issue, recycling and reusing of these tires by different technique bring major relief toward environmental concern. Recycling technology generates secondary raw materials, which are important resources for manufacturing industries and contribute significantly for the sustainability in circular economy. In this work, an effort was made to understand the retention of physical properties as a function of crumb rubber loading and particle size. Four different sizes of cryogenically shredded crumb rubber particles (120, 140, 200, and 270 mesh) were physicochemically characterized and incorporated by 10 phr of each in two different grades of carbon black–filled, natural rubber–based tread compound. The mixed compounds were characterized and compared with the control one. Optical microscope and scanning electron microscope analyses concluded that the finer the particle size, the better is the dispersion of crumb rubber particles which provide superior mechanical, extrusion, and wear properties. Tensile properties were retained around 95%–97% for both 270‐mesh loaded compounds, which indicates that reduction in particle size can increase the volume of recycled product utilization. Abstract : In this article, an effort was made to understand the retention of physical properties as a function of crumb rubber loading and particle size. Four different sizes of cryogenically grinded crumb rubber particles (120, 140, 200, and 270 mesh) were physicochemically characterized and incorporated by 10 phr of each in two different grades of CB‐filled, NR‐based tread compound. Tensile properties were retained around 95%–97% for both 270‐mesh loaded compounds which indicates that reduction in particle size can increase the volume of recycled product utilization. This study can bring the new era of the use of recycled elastomeric materials for sustainability in circular economy.