Recycling of waste tire rubber: Microwave devulcanization and incorporation in a thermoset resin

This study focused on the possibility of recycling Waste Tire Rubber (WTR) to be used as polymer modifier. Thus, WTR was grinded into powder, at ambient temperature, with a disc mill PQ500 and microwave electromagnetic energy was used to devulcanize this powder with the final aim of producing a new composite by its incorporation in a thermoset resin. The influence of the treatment microwave energy on the devulcanization ratio was investigated. FTIR analysis revealed that rupture of Sulfur-Sulfur (SAS) and Carbon-Sulfur (CAS) bonds have occurred during the treatment. Swelling analysis showed that the microwave treatment can lead to a very significant degree of devulcanization. The Ground Tire Rubber (GTR) and the Devulcanized Ground Tire Rubber (DGTR) were then separately used to prepare epoxy based composites. It appeared that epoxy composites filled with DGTR have better mechanical properties than those filled with untreated GTR. This result agrees with scanning electron microscopy observations which highlighted a better interface coherence between DGTR and epoxy. A complementary analysis pointed out a linear relationship between the rubber modulus and the number of crosslink per chain. Fil: Aoudia, Karima. Universite Mouloud Mammeri de Tizi-ouzou; Argelia Fil: Azem, Saïd. Universite Mouloud Mammeri de Tizi-ouzou; Argelia Fil: Aït Hocine, Nourredine. Institut National des Sciences Appliquées; Francia Fil: Gratton, Michel. Institut National des Sciences Appliquées ; Francia Fil: Pettarin, Valeria. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales; Argentina Fil: Seghar, Saïd. Phenix Technolgies; Francia