Studies of the thermal degradation of waste rubber

One kind of Chinese waste tire's sample was pyrolyzed under an inert atmosphere by using thermo-gravimetric apparatus (TGA) and differential thermal analysis (DTA). Different pyrolysis temperature ranges were determined according to the reaction transition temperature obtained by TGA and DTA. Then, at each temperature range, the pyrolysis gaseous products were analyzed by gas chromatography (GC). The influence of the temperature range on the relative yields of the major decomposition products is studied, and a mechanism for the formation of the main components was also investigated. The results indicate that pyrolysis of waste rubber follows the radical mechanism, and the major products are not seriously affected by increasing the temperature from room temperature to 420 degreesC and from 421 to 600 degreesC, but the degradation of blend rubber is different for each of the compositional elastomer. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.