Please cite this article as: Ramarad, S., Khalid, M., Ratnam, C.T., Luqman Chuah, A., Rashmi, W., Waste tire rubber in polymer blends: A review on the evolution, properties and future, Progress in Materials Science (2015), doi: http://dx. AbstractThis review addresses the progress in waste tire recycling with a particular attention to incorporation of waste tire rubber (WTR) into polymeric matrices. Methods of waste tire downsizing, importance of WTR characterization and current practice of WTR modification has been emphasized. Detailed discussion on influence of WTR size, loading, modification, compatibilization and crosslinking on the rheological, mechanical and thermal properties of rubber, thermoplastic and thermoplastic elastomer blends utilizing WTR has been reported.By far, thermoplastic elastomer blends; though still in its infancy; has shown the most promising properties balance which is capable of commercialization. Rubber/WTR blends 2 also show ease of processing and acceptable properties. Thermoplastic/WTR blends suffers in term of toughness and elongation at break. However, the waste thermoplastic/WTR is a viable solution to address polymeric waste problem. Review also highlights the lack of studies concentrating on dynamic mechanical, aging, thermal and swelling properties of WTR polymeric blends.

Biocomposites of kenaf fiber (KF) and polylactic acid (PLA) were prepared by an internal mixer and compression molding. PLA was plasticized with polyethylene glycol (PEG) (10 wt%) and evaluated as the polymer matrix (p-PLA). Fiber loadings were varied between 0 and 40 wt%. The tensile, dynamic mechanical, and morphological properties and water absorption behavior of these composites were studied. Reinforcing effect of KF was observed when fiber loading exceeded 10 wt% despite of the inferior fiber-matrix adhesion observed via scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Un-plasticized PLA/KF composite exhibited higher tensile properties than its plasticized counterpart. Fiber breakage and heavily coated short pulled-out of fibers were observed from the SEM micrographs of the composite. The presence of PEG might have disturbed the fiber-matrix interaction between KF and PLA in the plasticized composites. Addition of PEG slightly improved the un-notched impact strength of the composites. Dynamic mechanical analysis showed that the storage and loss moduli of p-PLA/KF composites increased with the increase in fiber loading due to increasing restrictions to mobility of the polymer molecules. The tan delta of the composites in contrast showed an opposite trend. p-PLA and p-PLA/KF composites exhibited non-Fickian behavior of water absorption. SEM examination revealed microcracks on p-PLA and p-PLA/KF surfaces.

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