Abstract
The fundamental study for chemical recycling of vulcanized rubber was carried out with the aim of reproducing functional polymers from used rubber by thermal fragmentation (TF) in the presence of thiophenol (PhSH). The vulcanized rubber samples used were natural rubber (VNR), butadiene rubber (VBR), styrene butadiene rubber (VSBR) and the ones (VNRCB, VBRCB and VSBRCB) containing carbon black (CB). TF of VNR at 140°C for 10 hours in air in the presence of PhSH gave the corresponding low molecular weight VNR in 80% yield. The molecular weights could be effectively controlled by the amount of PhSH added. Also, VBR, VSBR, VNRCB, VBRCB and VSBRCB showed the same behavior in TF. The obtained low molecular weight rubbery substances were soluble in organic solvents such as xylene, chloroform, THE and so on.
