Abstract
A new method for the recycling of a polyester tire cord under the action of oligoethylene terephthalates, bis(2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalate and ethylene glycol has been proposed. The method involves simultaneous homogeneous glycolysis of polyethylene terephthalate and devulcanization of crumb rubber. Polyester cord and glycolysates were characterized by FTIR spectroscopy and gel permeation chromatography (GPC). The devulcanization process was investigated by swelling-based methods. The rate of the proposed method of homogeneous glycolysis in a melt phase was proved to be higher than one of the heterogeneous glycolysis. The assumption of a more efficient devulcanization in the presence of a softener was also confirmed. The degree of devulcanization 46.07%, the apparent degree of swelling 167.4%, and the apparent swelling rate constant 0.0902 min−1 were achieved. The results indicate that the proposed method made it possible to carry out the glycolysis of the polyester cord of the tire more deeply than the known heterogeneous glycolysis with various agents, but further research is needed for industrial implementation.
Highlights
Tires are one of the main sources of microplastics [1], so the recycling of end-of-life tires is an urgent task
The novel method allowed one to carry out the glycolysis of the modern polyester tire cord more deeply than the known heterogeneous processes with various agents
Residual crumb rubber and fragments in heterogeneous glycolysis with ethylene glycol and diethylene glycol reached the degrees of devulcanization 22.39% and 28.63%, respectively
Summary
Tires are one of the main sources of microplastics [1], so the recycling of end-of-life tires is an urgent task. There has been an increasing interest in tire recycling and the most studied methods of treatment being pyrolysis and ground crumb rubber production [2]. The most commonly used cord material is polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and, recycled polyester tire cord consists of PET fibers and ground tire rubber [3,4]. The reuse as milled raw material is the most developed among the recycling methods for polyester cord. It can be a filler in low density polyethylene-based composites [3,4]. The newest application for recycled tire cord components is 3D printing using polyethylene terephthalate [12] or crumb rubber [13,14]
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