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J. Compos. Sci.
Special Issues
Sustainable Rubber Composites
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Sustainable Rubber Composites

A special issue of Journal of Composites Science (ISSN 2504-477X).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2019) | Viewed by 33338

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Marianella Hernández Santana

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Polymer Science and Technology (ICTP-CSIC), Juan de la Cierva 3, 28006 Madrid, Spain
Interests: elastomers; self-healing; nano(composite) materiales; dielectric spectroscopy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The rubber industry is faced with some challenges in order to meet the criteria of sustainable development. Among the different strategies seeking possible economically-attractive and eco-friendly materials, the use of natural fibers as potential fillers in rubber composites appear to be a reasonable option. Recycling and reclaiming technologies, to get rid of end-of-life tires, also sounds like a valid possibility. Self-healing rubbers are another alternative to the damage-and-discard cycle. Lifetime extension by healing events would also reduce the overall costs in material use and maintenance. Different concepts to implement healing have been proposed, but several are unlikely to ever reach a level interesting enough for industry. It is crucial to know what the limitations and possibilities are for the different concepts. Currently, most research in this field is confined to the laboratory scale. However, we should make a jump into the industrial sector. Upgraded reused and/or self-repaired composite materials will have the possibility of incorporation in applications where there is a strong need for low cost and noise and vibration damping properties for the improvement of transport quality (aircrafts, cars, and railway vehicles), among others.

The aim of this Special Issue is to offer researchers a wide spectrum of investigations focused on rubber composites that harmonize with sustainability and circular economy principles. Authors are encouraged to present material model concepts for developing new applications, economically and environmentally convenient, with good mechanical properties and with self-repair abilities. Modifications of the chemical structure of rubber so as to enhance physical or chemical reversible interactions are encouraged as well. Research on new processes and improvements in existing recycling or reclaiming processes are also welcomed in this Special Issue. All attempts to find economical ways to use rubber waste in rubber composites will be considered. The inclusion of fillers playing the dual role of reinforcing and carrier of the healing agent would also be of interest for this Special Issue.

 I hope that the outcome of this new set of studies will serve as a framework for a straightforward strategy for both recycling and improving/extending the life cycle of elastomeric goods.

Dr. Marianella Hernández Santana
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • Rubber recycling
  • Ground tire rubber
  • Rubber composites
  • Natural fibers
  • Rubber-filler interactions
  • Self-healing rubbers
  • Devulcanization
  • Reclaimed rubber
  • Dynamic bonds
  • End-of-life-tires
  • Circular economy
  • Sustainability
  • Reverse engineering

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Published Papers (8 papers)

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Research

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11 pages, 1492 KiB  
Article
Modification of Ground Tire Rubber—Promising Approach for Development of Green Composites
by Łukasz Zedler, Marta Przybysz-Romatowska, Józef Haponiuk, Shifeng Wang and Krzysztof Formela
J. Compos. Sci. 2020, 4(1), 2; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcs4010002 - 20 Dec 2019
Cited by 18 | Viewed by 2720
Abstract
Ground tire rubber (GTR) was mechano-chemically modified using a road bitumen 100/150 and two types of organic peroxides: di-(2-tert-butyl-peroxyisopropyl)-benzene (BIB) and dicumyl peroxide (DCP). The impact of used additives on reactive sintering efficiency and physico-mechanical properties of modified GTR was investigated using oscillating [...] Read more.
Ground tire rubber (GTR) was mechano-chemically modified using a road bitumen 100/150 and two types of organic peroxides: di-(2-tert-butyl-peroxyisopropyl)-benzene (BIB) and dicumyl peroxide (DCP). The impact of used additives on reactive sintering efficiency and physico-mechanical properties of modified GTR was investigated using oscillating disc rheometer measurements, followed by tensile tests and swelling behavior studies. It was found that the application of bitumen and both used peroxides (DCP/BIB) improves processing and reactive sintering efficiency better than untreated GTR. However, the results indicate that BIB is more prone to blooming on the surface of modified GTR, thus limiting (especially at higher content) its application as a modifier and promotor of GTR reactive sintering. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Rubber Composites)
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8 pages, 1340 KiB  
Article
Silica-Milled Paulownia Biochar as Partial Replacement of Carbon Black Filler in Natural Rubber
by Steven C. Peterson
J. Compos. Sci. 2019, 3(4), 107; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcs3040107 - 13 Dec 2019
Cited by 18 | Viewed by 3240
Abstract
Carbon black (CB) has been the dominant filler in the tire industry for decades. The demand for this petroleum byproduct is ever increasing, although petroleum markets can be volatile due to geopolitical issues. Finding sustainable, renewable substitutes for CB reduces the dependence on [...] Read more.
Carbon black (CB) has been the dominant filler in the tire industry for decades. The demand for this petroleum byproduct is ever increasing, although petroleum markets can be volatile due to geopolitical issues. Finding sustainable, renewable substitutes for CB reduces the dependence on petroleum. Biochar is a renewable source of carbon that was studied as a potential CB replacement filler in styrene–butadiene rubber (SBR) composites, but little has been done in terms of natural rubber (NR). In this work, biochar made from fast-growing Paulownia elongata was co-milled with small amounts of silica in order to reduce the larger particle size typical with biochar respective to CB. The resulting silica-milled Paulownia biochar (PB) was then used to replace CB in natural rubber (NR) composites. By using this method to make natural rubber composites with 30% total filler, half of the CB was fully replaced with silica-milled biochar with very little loss (<6%) of tensile strength, and equal or better elongation and toughness compared to the 100% CB-filled control composite. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Rubber Composites)
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13 pages, 1896 KiB  
Article
Fabrication of Nanostructured Kaolinite Doped Composite Films from Silicone Rubber with Enhanced Properties
by Abdullah Muhammad Zakaria, Shaikat Chandra Dey, Muhammad Mominur Rahman, Mithun Sarker, Md. Ashaduzzaman and Sayed Md. Shamsuddin
J. Compos. Sci. 2019, 3(2), 50; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcs3020050 - 12 May 2019
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 4581
Abstract
Naturally occurring nanomaterials are finding growing interests in tailoring properties of engineering polymers for advanced applications. The objective of this study was to develop environment-friendly nanocomposite films by reinforcing kaolinite nanofillers (1–10 wt%) in silicone rubber (SR) matrix using a simple solvent casting [...] Read more.
Naturally occurring nanomaterials are finding growing interests in tailoring properties of engineering polymers for advanced applications. The objective of this study was to develop environment-friendly nanocomposite films by reinforcing kaolinite nanofillers (1–10 wt%) in silicone rubber (SR) matrix using a simple solvent casting technique. Kaolinite-reinforced films showed substantial improvement in mechanical (tensile strength, Young’s modulus, and elongation at break) and thermal properties at very low filler loading (5 wt%). The improvement of solvent resistance nature of the fabricated films was another critical aspect of this study. Unfilled SR film showed ~19% weight loss when immersed in toluene for 4 h at 25 °C, whereas only ~4% weight loss was recorded in the case of 5% (w/w) kaolinite loaded film. Therefore, kaolinite has the potential to bring significant improvement in the properties of SR. This study indicates that there is plenty of room at the bottom for proper utilization of the potential of kaolinite for developing SR-based composite materials for potential applications in many industries, such as textile, household cleaning, construction, electronics, automotive, medical, etc. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Rubber Composites)
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14 pages, 6727 KiB  
Article
Defining Key Factors in Carbon Black-Filled NR/BR Compounds for Balancing Aircraft Tire Tread Properties
by Indriasari, Wisut Kaewsakul, Wilma K. Dierkes and Anke Blume
J. Compos. Sci. 2019, 3(2), 47; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcs3020047 - 5 May 2019
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3987
Abstract
Carbon black (CB) is the most common reinforcing filler used in aircraft tire tread formulations. For CB-reinforced natural rubber/butadiene rubber (NR/BR) compounds, material and processing parameters are important factors that need to be controlled, as they can influence both, processing as well as [...] Read more.
Carbon black (CB) is the most common reinforcing filler used in aircraft tire tread formulations. For CB-reinforced natural rubber/butadiene rubber (NR/BR) compounds, material and processing parameters are important factors that need to be controlled, as they can influence both, processing as well as the vulcanizate properties. It is essential to investigate and optimize the key elements, in order to achieve the target properties, while maintaining an acceptable trade-off for other characteristics. In the present study, the type of BR, mixer temperature, rotor speed, and filler mixing time were selected as input factors. A complete design of experiments (DOE) process was performed that comprised the following—two-level full factorial setup for initial screening, response surface method (RSM) for optimization, and confirmation runs for validation. This evaluation procedure was used to study the impact of factors and their interactions on the properties of CB-filled NR/BR compounds. From the DOE optimization which was later confirmed by the DOE validation, high rotor speed and long filler mixing time were the most significant factors in improving the Mooney viscosity, modulus at 300% elongation, hysteresis (tan delta), as well as in reducing the filler–filler interaction (Payne effect). In the case of tensile strength (TS) and abrasion resistance index (ARI), high rotor speed and long filler mixing time had an adverse effect, thus, causing a deterioration of these properties. Therefore, it is recommended to decrease the filler mixing time when combining it with high rotor speed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Rubber Composites)
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17 pages, 3251 KiB  
Article
Influence of Mixing Procedures, Rubber Treatment, and Fibre Additives on Rubcrete Performance
by Osama Youssf, Reza Hassanli, Julie E. Mills, William Skinner, Xing Ma, Yan Zhuge, Rajeev Roychand and Rebecca Gravina
J. Compos. Sci. 2019, 3(2), 41; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcs3020041 - 10 Apr 2019
Cited by 88 | Viewed by 6496
Abstract
This research extensively investigates how to enhance the mechanical performance of Rubcrete, aiming to move this type of concrete from the laboratory research level to a more practical use by the concrete industry. The effects of many different mixing procedures, chemical pre-treatments on [...] Read more.
This research extensively investigates how to enhance the mechanical performance of Rubcrete, aiming to move this type of concrete from the laboratory research level to a more practical use by the concrete industry. The effects of many different mixing procedures, chemical pre-treatments on the rubber particles, and the use of fibre additives, have been investigated for their impact upon Rubcrete workability, compressive strength, tensile strength, and flexural strength. The mixing procedure variables included mixing time and mixing order. The rubber pre-treatments utilized chemicals such as Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH), Hydrogen Peroxide (H2O2), Sulphuric acid (H2SO4), Calcium Chloride (CaCl2), Potassium Permanganate (KMnO4), Sodium Bisulphite (NaHsO3), and Silane Coupling Agent. Soaking rubber particles in tap water, or running them through water before mixing, were also tried as a pre-treatment of rubber particles. In addition, the effects of fibre additives such as steel fibres, polypropylene fibres, and rubber fibres, were assessed. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis was utilised to examine some of the pre-treated rubber particles. The results showed that doubling the net mixing time of all mix constituents together enhanced the Rubcrete slump by an average of 22%, and the compressive strength by up to 8%. Mixing rubber with dry cement before adding to the mix increased the compressive strength by up to 3%. Pre-treatment using water was more effective than other chemicals in enhancing the Rubcrete workability. Regardless of the treatment material type, the longer the time of the treatment, the more cleaning of rubber occurred. Significant Rubcrete flexural strength increase occurred when using 1.5% fibre content of both steel fibre and polypropylene fibre. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Rubber Composites)
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9 pages, 1813 KiB  
Article
Removal of Surfactant from Nanocomposites Films Based on Thermally Reduced Graphene Oxide and Natural Rubber
by Hector Aguilar-Bolados, Ahirton Contreras-Cid, Andronico Neira-Carrillo, Miguel Lopez-Manchado and Mehrdad Yazdani-Pedram
J. Compos. Sci. 2019, 3(2), 31; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcs3020031 - 28 Mar 2019
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 3191
Abstract
Electrically conducting elastomer composites based on natural rubber and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) is reported. These composites were prepared by a latex method and an easy washing process. The latex method consists of the mixing of an aqueous suspension of rGO, stabilized by [...] Read more.
Electrically conducting elastomer composites based on natural rubber and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) is reported. These composites were prepared by a latex method and an easy washing process. The latex method consists of the mixing of an aqueous suspension of rGO, stabilized by sodium dodecyl sulfate and pre-vulcanized natural rubber, followed by solvent casting. The percolation threshold of composites was estimated at 1.54 wt.% of rGO. The washing process allowed elimination of the surfactant completely from nanocomposites. The absence of surfactant in nanocomposites was demonstrated by Raman spectroscopy and dynamo-mechanical analysis. The surfactant-free nanocomposites showed improved mechanical and electrical properties. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Rubber Composites)
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18 pages, 8474 KiB  
Article
Cyclic Performance of Steel–Concrete–Steel Sandwich Beams with Rubcrete and LECA Concrete Core
by Osama Youssf, Reza Hassanli, Julie E. Mills, Xing Ma and Yan Zhuge
J. Compos. Sci. 2019, 3(1), 5; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcs3010005 - 7 Jan 2019
Cited by 21 | Viewed by 4022
Abstract
Due to the structural and economic features of steel–concrete–steel (SCS) structural systems compared with conventional reinforced concrete ones, they are now used for a range of structural applications. Rubcrete, in which crumbed rubber from scrap tires partially replaces mineral aggregates in concrete, can [...] Read more.
Due to the structural and economic features of steel–concrete–steel (SCS) structural systems compared with conventional reinforced concrete ones, they are now used for a range of structural applications. Rubcrete, in which crumbed rubber from scrap tires partially replaces mineral aggregates in concrete, can be used instead of conventional concrete. Utilizing rubber waste in concrete potentially results in a more ductile lightweight concrete that can introduce additional features to the SCS structural members. This study aimed to explore different concrete core materials in SCS beams and the appropriate shear connectors required. In this study, four SCS sandwich beams were tested experimentally under incrementally increasing flexure cyclic loading. Each beam had a length of 1000 mm, and upper and lower steel plates with 3 mm thickness sandwiched the concrete core, which had a cross-section of 150 mm × 150 mm. Two of the beams were constructed out of Rubcrete core with welded and bolted shear connectors, while the other two beams were constructed with welded shear connectors and either conventional concrete or lightweight expanded clay aggregate (LECA) concrete cores. The performance of the SCS sandwich beams including damage pattern, failure mode, load-displacement response, and energy dissipation behavior was compared. The results showed that, while Rubcrete was able to provide similar concrete cracking behavior and strength to that of conventional concrete, LECA concrete degraded the strength properties of SCS. Using bolted shear connectors instead of welded ones caused a high number of cracks that resulted in a reduced ductility and deflection capacity of the beam before failure. The rubberized concrete specimen presented an improved ductility and deflection capacity compared with its conventional concrete counterpart. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Rubber Composites)
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Review

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20 pages, 1870 KiB  
Review
Characterization of Agricultural and Food Processing Residues for Potential Rubber Filler Applications
by Cindy S. Barrera and Katrina Cornish
J. Compos. Sci. 2019, 3(4), 102; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcs3040102 - 26 Nov 2019
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 4411
Abstract
Large volumes of agricultural and food processing residues are generated daily around the world. Despite the various potential uses reported for this biomass, most are still treated as waste that requires disposal and negatively impacts the environmental footprint of the primary production process. [...] Read more.
Large volumes of agricultural and food processing residues are generated daily around the world. Despite the various potential uses reported for this biomass, most are still treated as waste that requires disposal and negatively impacts the environmental footprint of the primary production process. Increasing attention has been paid toward the use of these residues as alternative fillers for rubber and other large-scale commodity polymers to reduce dependence on petroleum. Nevertheless, characterization of these alternative fillers is required to define compatibility with the specific polymer, identify filler limitations, understand the properties of the resulting composites, and modify the materials to enable the engineering of composites to exploit all the potential advantages of these residue-derived fillers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Rubber Composites)
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