Carbon black and chitin nanofibers for green tyres: Preparation and property evaluation

Mariya Mathew; C D Midhun Dominic; K V Neenu; P M Sabura Begum; P Dileep; T G Ajith Kumar; Akshay Alax Sabu; Dhiraj Nagane; Jyotishkumar Parameswaranpillai; Michael Badawi

doi:10.1016/j.carbpol.2023.120700

Carbon black and chitin nanofibers for green tyres: Preparation and property evaluation

Carbohydr Polym. 2023 Jun 15:310:120700. doi: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2023.120700. Epub 2023 Feb 17.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry, Sacred Heart College (Autonomous), Kochi, Kerala Pin-682013, India.
² Department of Chemistry, Sacred Heart College (Autonomous), Kochi, Kerala Pin-682013, India. Electronic address: midhundominic@shcollege.ac.in.
³ Department of Applied Chemistry, Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT), Kerala Pin-682022, India.
⁴ J.J. Murphy Research Centre, Rubber Park, Valayanchrirangara, Kerala Pin-686009, India.
⁵ Central NMR Facility and Physical/Materials Chemistry Division, CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory, Pune Pin-411008, India.
⁶ Department of Chemistry, St. Xavier's college (Autonomous), Ahmedabad, Gujarat Pin-380009, India.
⁷ Department of Science, Faculty of Science & Technology, Alliance University, Chandapura-Anekal Main Road, Bengaluru 562106, Karnataka, India.
⁸ Laboratoire de Physique et Chimie Théoriques UMR CNRS 7019, Université de Lorraine, Nancy, France. Electronic address: michael.badawi@univ-lorraine.fr.

PMID: 36925259
DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2023.120700

Abstract

This research highlights the synergistic use of carbon black (CB) and chitin nanofibers (CHNFs) for developing green tyres for the first time. The CHNFs (12-30 nm) were prepared from chitin powder with the help of steam explosion and mild oxalic acid hydrolysis. The CHNFs were uniformly dispersed in natural rubber (NR) latex, dried, and mixed with CB in a two-roll mill to form NR/CB/CHNF composites. The NR/CB/CHNF composite at 1 phr CHNF loading exhibited tensile and tear strengths that were about 47 and 160 % greater than the NR-Neat, respectively. The dynamic mechanical analysis showed that the loss tangent (tan δ) at 60 °C was 50 % lower for the NR/CB/CHNF 1.0 composite than for the NR/CB50 composite. The study succeeded in developing a new green tyre tread formulation that would be helpful for attaining sustainability and a circular economy.

Keywords: Carbon black; Chitin nanofibers; Green Tyre; Natural rubber latex.