Preparation of devulcanized ground tire rubber with supercritical carbon dioxide jet pulverization

This work presents a novel waste tire rubber reclamation method using supercritical carbon dioxide (ScCO2) jet pulverization. The particle size distributions of the acquired ground tire rubber were analyzed and the rubber devulcanization behaviors were investigated. Results show that devulcanized ground tire rubber with fine particle size and coarse surfaces can be acquired in ScCO2 jet pulverization. The rubber swelling in ScCO2 significantly impedes fine pulverization. The jet impact mainly results in main chain scission, while long reaction time and low jet pressure are beneficial for the selective breakage of cross links. It indicates that ScCO2 jet pulverization can be an excellent choice for WTR reclamation concerning both size reduction and rubber devulcanization. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

The study introduces a novel waste tire rubber reclamation method using supercritical carbon dioxide jet pulverization. Results show that finely ground devulcanized tire rubber with coarse surfaces can be obtained in this process, which is beneficial for size reduction and rubber devulcanization.