Soybean oil induced efficient thermal–oxidative degradation of covalently crosslinked styrene butadiene rubber

Abstract

ABSTRACTIt has been a technical challenge of recycling tire rubbers due to the covalently crosslinked polymer network structure. Unlike conventional recombination of crosslinked SBR under thermal oxidation, SBR vulcanizate was efficiently degraded by thermal oxidation at 150 °C in presence of soybean oil, resulting in 47.3% sol fraction by weight. The structural evolution of SBR vulcanizates during thermal oxidation was characterized by sol–gel ratio, chemical structure, molecular weight, and oxidative erosion on the rubber surface. It was found that the continuous oxidation process facilitated main chain scission of SBR vulcanizates, resulting in a decrease of molecular weight of the sol fraction. The concentration of carbonyl groups, sol fraction, and surface erosion continually increased with reaction time. The large amounts of soybean oil significantly affect the thermal stability of SBR vulcanizates. Moreover, soybean oil is more efficient in decomposition of the SBR vulcanizates and results in more homogeneous and efficient oxidation reactions than paraffin oil. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2020, 137, 48935.