Toughening of polystyrene using styrene-butadiene rubber (SBRr) waste from the shoe industry

Abstract

The vulcanized rubber waste from the shoe industry causes environmental damage when it is incinerated or inappropriately discarded, turning this into a problem of major concern. Therefore, this study had as the main objective the Polystyrene (PS) toughening using different contents of white vulcanized styrene-butadiene rubber (SBRr) waste produced in the shoe industry. The mixtures were initially prepared in a co-rotational double screw extruder and, thereafter, the extruded granules were injection molded. Analyzed were the rheological, mechanical, thermomechanical properties and morphology of the produced blends. The rheological results showed a viscosity increase as the SBRr concentration was augmented, leading to a higher stability when compared to pure Polystyrene. Verified was an increase of impact resistance of 189% to the blend that contained 50% of SBR rather than pure Polystyrene. On the other hand, the traction properties, hardness Shore D, thermal deflection temperature (HDT) and Vicat softening temperature of the blends tended to decrease when compared to pure Polystyrene results. However, as this SBR waste is made up of a complex mixture of SBR, filler, processing additions, curing agents and stabilizers, it probably acted in the sense of not causing such a drastic reduction of the properties, even using a high concentration of SBRr waste. The morphologies obtained with the SEM method (Scanning Electronic Microscope) were quite different and typical of immiscible blends. The results show that it is possible to obtain a new material with good properties, valuing a discarded industrial waste and avoiding environment aggression.

Microcellular morphology evolution of polystyrene/thermoplastic polyurethane blends in the presence of supercritical CO2

“…As illustrated in Figure 2(a), pure PS showed a typical morphology of fracture surface of an amorphous polymer with no visible plastic deformation, indicating that the pure PS fractured in a brittle mode. 31 With the introduction of TPU into the PS matrix, sea island structure appeared in the PS/TPU blends and the interface between the PS phase and the TPU phase became distinct, indicating that the miscibility between the PS phase and the TPU phase was poor in the PS/TPU blends. This was consistent with the analysis of Cole–Cole plots in rheological properties.…”

Hidróxidos Duplos Laminares Para Remoção De Poluentes Aquosos

“…A análise termomecânica pode ser utilizada para avaliar a compatibilidade dos sistemas poliméricos de forma semelhante às propriedades mecânicas (ARAÚJO et al, 2004) (TAKEMORI et al, 1979;LUNA et al, 2015;BIRUDUGADDA et al, 2016;LUNA et al, 2018) A Figura 11 ilustra a fotomicrografia obtida por MEV da superfície de fratura das blendas compatibilizadas, com um aumento de 5000x.…”

Blends of Polystyrene/Shoes Waste (SBRr): Influence of Mixture Sequence and Compatibilizer

“…Thus, some recent studies were reported in the literature about the development of polymer blends based on rubber waste and polystyrene . Most of the published papers deals with the reuse of rubber waste tire and no paper was found exploring the influence of the mixing sequence of twin screw extruders.…”