Mechanochemical treatment of scrap tire rubber

Abstract

The Mechanical Alloying (MA) process can be attractive as a low environmental impact technology having potential applications in several fields. In this direction, in the present work, we describe the use of high energy ball milling technique on ground rubber as a mean for scrap tire rubber recycling. Vulcanised rubber powder was successfully devulcanised under the application of impact mechanical energy. Progress of mechanochemical de-cross-linking at different milling times was monitored by measuring extracted sol fractions and cross-linking densities of milled samples. The effect of the presence of an antioxidant agent on the milling process, was evaluated comparing solubility and cross-l..