Alternative production of rubber crumb by accelerated aging of waste tires by ozone

Abstract

The processing of waste materials poses a major challenge in current advances in materials engineering. The particular importance in this field lays in the transition to the circular economy model that requires the utilization of various discarded materials instead of landfilling. Considering the large numbers of automobiles, the amount of produced waste tires is still growing and effective reuse scenario lacking. Recently, end-of-life tires were accepted as usable material for various applications when provided as a rubber crumb. However, the current grinding technology does not provide the desired efficiency and large truck tires cannot be processed by this method. In this sense, we access the characterization of rubber crumb produced by the accelerated ozone aging method, which represents an effective alternative for waste tires recycling. For this purpose, the powder density, porosity, water absorption, shape index, and particle size distribution curves of such produced rubber crumb are calculated. Based on experimentally accessed data, the correlation between the ozone exposure and material properties of rubber crumb, thus material can be tailored by using this method for specific applications. As described in this study, the duration of the accelerated aging is related to granulometry of rubber crumb in particular. Obtained findings can be further utilized in tailored design on advanced acoustic insulation boards or playground surfaces.