Abstract
Slips and falls on icy surfaces can cause serious injuries of people. The primary risk factor for slipping incidents is undoubtedly the decreased friction coefficient between the shoe sole and the ice or snow surface. Nowadays environmental protection has been gaining significance and becoming highly important for the various innovation strategies. In rubber industry the concept of environmental protection is more often associated with the maximum use of elastomers and ingredients from renewable sources in the manufacture of rubber products. The aim of this work is to investigate the possibilities of using elastomers and ingredients from renewable sources—epoxidized natural rubber, silica obtained by rice husks incineration and microcrystalline cellulose—as fillers and rapeseed oil as a process additive in compositions, intended for the manufacture of soles for winter footwear having an increased coefficient of friction to icy surfaces. The tribological tests based on the coefficient of friction evaluated the adhesion of the composites to the icy surfaces at different temperatures. The complex evaluation of developed composites revealed those containing microcrystalline cellulose and biogenic amorphous silica at a 1:1 ratio as the most suitable for making footwear soles because of the best combination of physicо-mechanical properties and coefficient of friction.
Highlights
Slips and falls are quite common on icy surfaces and can cause serious injuries
The aim of this work is to investigate the possibilities of using elastomers and ingredients from renewable sources—epoxidized natural rubber, silica obtained by rice husks incineration and microcrystalline cellulose—as fillers and rapeseed oil as a process additive in compositions, intended for the manufacture of soles for winter footwear having an increased coefficient of friction to icy surfaces
Taking into account the above mentioned the aim of the work is to investigate the possibilities of using elastomers and ingredients from renewable sources—silica obtained by rice husks incineration and microcrystalline cellulose—as fillers, and rapeseed oil, as a process additive, to prepare compositions, intended for manufacturing soles for winter footwear having an increased coefficient of friction to icy surfaces
Summary
Slips and falls are quite common on icy surfaces and can cause serious injuries. In Finland nearly 50,000 pedestrians each year receive injuries resultant from slipping on icy or snowy surfaces which lead to medical consultation [2]. The primary risk factor for slipping incidents is undoubtedly the decreased friction coefficient between the shoe sole and the surface beneath it. The facts described above indicate a significant public health issue associated with the adhesion of the footwear to the icy surface. A number of authors have done research in the particular area
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