Influence of tire waste addition on SEBS matrix for application on industrial floors

ABSTRACT

The inadequate disposal of tires represents a serious environmental problem, since its high decomposition time, together with its incorrect disposal, makes it a great threat to natural resources, causing contamination of soils and rivers, as well as diseases caused by to the accumulation of waste and water inside and the proliferating viruses and bacteria. Among the possible alternatives of reuse of this residue is its incorporation in other materials, which in addition to making it an economically attractive residue and allows the development of new compositions of materials with different properties. The purpose of this work is the addition of tires residue in SEBS thermoplastic elastomer matrix (styrene - ethylene / butylene - styrene block copolymer). In first step, the influence of the grain size of the residue was evaluated. Tires particles of 12, 24 and 35 mesh sizes were used. After physical, thermal and mechanical analysis, which allowed the choice of the best granulometry, the residue concentration was varied in 10, 20 and 30% by mass in SEBS matrix. The results showed that the compound developed with 12 mesh granulometry at a concentration of 10% by mass SEBS matrix showed the composition with better mechanical properties, which suggests its advantage in application on industrial floors.

Keywords
waste; tire; thermoplastic elastomer