Upcycling green carbon black as a reinforcing agent for styrene-butadiene rubber materials

This study reports the effects of recovered carbon black (produced in a clean and sustainable way) as a reinforcing agent on the physicochemical properties of a styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) matrix. SBR-based composite materials are prepared with recovered green carbon black (GCB), and these are thoroughly compared to the composite materials containing conventional virgin carbon black (VCB) (produced by the incomplete combustion of petroleum products). The GCB-SBR composite materials generally show detectably inferior properties compared to the VCB-SBR composite under the same preparation conditions due to the limited functionality of the GCB filler. However, the introduction of a small amount of crosslinker, acrylate-functionalized POSS (polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane), into the GCB-SBR composite materials effectively enhances the overall physical properties, including the tensile strength, fracture elongation, and thermal stability. The degree of the crosslinking efficiency, thermal stability, and mechanical properties of the composite materials are optimized and thoroughly examined to demonstrate the possibility of replacing typical VCB with GCB, which can allow for upcycling the inexpensive and ecofriendly carbon black materials as effective reinforcing fillers.

Automated summary

This study investigates the effects of recovered carbon black (produced in a clean and sustainable way) as a reinforcing agent on the physicochemical properties of a styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) matrix. The results show that while the SBR-based composite materials with recovered green carbon black (GCB) generally exhibit inferior properties compared to those with conventional virgin carbon black (VCB), the addition of a small amount of crosslinker, acrylate-functionalized POSS, enhances the overall physical properties, including tensile strength, fracture elongation, and thermal stability. These findings suggest the possibility of replacing typical VCB with GCB for effective reinforcement, which can upcycle inexpensive and ecofriendly carbon black materials.