Abstract
The management of end-of-life lead-acid battery wastes is one of the leading environmental issues society faces nowadays. Spent lead-acid battery separators or PE-separators can be used as sources of recycled nanosilica. Hence, recycling silica from spent PE-separators has many advantages, such as reducing environmental hazards. This study uses recycled nanosilica from the spent PE-separator to prepare Styrene-Butadiene Rubber (SBR) nanocomposite with potential applications in tire products. High purity silica nanoparticles are recycled from the PE-separator using the wet sand washing and pyrolysis process. Results showed that contaminations like iron and lead oxides could be effectively removed from the spent separator, and the high purity silica nanoparticles (>98.4 wt%) can be obtained. In the following, the SBR nanocomposites were produced with 5, 10, and 15 phr recycled silica nanoparticles. In the SBR nanocomposite sample with 5 phr recycled nanosilica and 45 phr carbon black, the modulus improved by 40%, tensile strength by 10%, and tear strength by 54% compared to the sample having only 50 phr carbon black. Moreover, in the samples having 50 phr CB and different amounts of the nanosilica, the mechanical properties are enhanced monotonically. Finally, this study defines a sustainable, innovative approach to recycling lead-acid battery separator wastes and using the obtained recycled nanosilica to prepare SBR/silica nanocomposites with potential tire industry applications.
Published Version
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