Effect of Recovered Carbon Black on the Physicomechanical Properties and Curing Characteristics of Rubber Compounds

Research at a glance

This paper presents the experimental results obtained from the study on incorporating recovered Carbon Black (rCB) produced from pyrolysis process of end- of- life- tires in to a solid tire tread compound. The purpose of this study is to increase the technical knowledge on the use of rCB as a sustainable alternative for virgin carbon black (vCB). The primary objective is to contribute to environmental sustainability by reducing reliance on commercial grade- N375 CB and promoting circular economy practices within the rubber industry. The earlier studies were successfully discovered that rCB has lower reinforcement properties compared to the vCB and could not be replaced the vCB completely from the rCB. Therefore, this study evaluates the effect of recovered carbon black (rCB) on the physicomechanical properties and curing characteristics of solid tire tread compounds by replacing virgin carbon black (N375), which constitutes the novelty of the work. rCB source from Indian supplier was evaluated through the incremental addition of rCB in addition to replace the existing N375 phr level in the formulation at 5, 10, 15, and 20 phr levels. According to the results with the increment of rCB loading mechanical properties and rheological properties of the compounds lower than the vCB loaded compounds. Despite this, interesting performances can be achieved when rCB is incorporated into the formulations at 10 phr by replacing N375 load from 10 phr of rCB in the compounds. The mechanical and rheological properties of the 10 phr rCB reinforced compounds were matched with the properties expected by the 100% vCB reinforced compounds. The study concludes that rCB can serve by using a combination of rCB with conventional CB grade- N375 to obtain the optimal balance of reinforcement and targeted properties.