Thermochemically partially devulcanized ground tire rubber (GTRD) was revulcanized in compositions with different virgin rubbers. Two different devulcanizing groups (mixture of softeners) with and without processing oil have been used for GTR treatment. As virgin rubbers methylstyrene/butadiene (SBR), isoprene (IR) and butadiene (BR) rubbers or their combinations were selected. They were cured by using sulfur, tetramethyl thiuram disulfide (TMTD) or peroxide based vulcanizing systems. The Rubber/GTRD (re)vulcanizates with the GTRD content from 20 to 80 wt. % have been prepared and studied. Vulcanization by sulfur system was found as preferable for IR/GTRD formulations. The best properties for BR/GTRD and SBR/GTRD vulcanizates were reached with the vulcanization system based on TMTD. The co-curing in the interphase between the GTRD particles and the surrounding rubber matrix improves the mechanical properties of (re)vulcanizates obtained. The reclaimed GTRD studied has been used successfully in standard formulations for tires instead of the part of virgin rubbers.
Thermostable nanocomposites based on densely cross-linked cyanate ester resins (CER), derived from bisphenol E and doped by 0.01 to 5 wt. % amino-functionalized 2D montmorillonite (MMT) nanoparticles, were synthesized and characterized using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDXS), wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD), dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), far-infrared (Far-IR), and creep rate spectroscopy (CRS) techniques. It was revealed that ultra-low additives, e.g., 0.025 to 0.1 wt. %, of amino-MMT nanolayers covalently embedded into СER network exerted an anomalously large impact on its dynamics and properties resulting, in particular, in some suppression of dynamics, increasing the onset of glass transition temperature by 30° to 40° and twofold rise of modulus in temperature range from 20°C to 200°C. Contrarily, the effects became negligibly small or even negative at increased amino-MMT contents, especially at 2 and 5 wt. %. That could be explained by TEM/EDXS data displaying predominance of individual amino-MMT nanolayers and their thin (2 to 3 nanolayers) stacks over more thick tactoids (5 to 10 nanolayers) and the large amino-MMT aggregates (100 to 500 nm in thickness) reversing the composite structure produced with increasing of amino-MMT content within CER matrix. The revealed effect of ultra-low amino-MMT content testifies in favor of the idea about the extraordinarily enhanced long-range action of the ‘constrained dynamics’ effect in the case of densely cross-linked polymer networks. PACS: 82.35.Np Nanoparticles in polymers; 81.05.Qk Reinforced polymers and polymer-based composites; 81.07.Pr Organic-inorganic hybrid nanostructures