Thermoplastic rubber
View Patent ↗PRISM Thermoplastic Rubber (PTR) is a novel, composite rubber material technology principally compounded from EOL, ambient ground, whole tires through the management of a unique process governed by the application of advanced, quantum field physics. The value from this technology is to provide a virgin-material-analog that may be readily integrated at high ratio, into new tire construction using conventional tire chemistry and manufacturing techniques resulting in a sustainable and significant, positive cost-benefit ratio as compared to current tire manufacturing economics.
1. A method for preparing a thermoplastic rubber, the method comprising:
combining vulcanized rubber particles, an auxiliary polymer comprising a reactive moiety, and an organometallic compound into a mixture, so as to induce delamination of a rubber matrix within the vulcanized rubber particles as coordinated with disrupting sulfidic linkages, so as to induce crosslinking of the auxiliary polymer into the polymeric matrix, and so as to induce a chemical reaction between the reactive moiety and a polyaromatic hydrocarbon, whereby the polymeric matrix sequesters the polyaromatic hydrocarbon.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the organometallic compound is copper acetate.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the auxiliary polymer is a polybutadiene and wherein the reactive moiety is an epoxide group.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the reactive moiety is selected from the group consisting of an epoxide group and a urethane group.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the reactive moiety is an acetate group.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the auxiliary polymer is an elastomer.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the elastomer is selected from the group consisting of butadiene, natural rubber, styrene butadiene rubber, isobutylene-isoprene rubber, styrene-1,4-cis polybutadiene polymer, trans-1,4-polyisoprene, cis-1,4-polyisoprene, natural polyisoprene, synthetic polyisoprene, chloroprene rubber, halogenated butyl rubber, nonhalogenated butyl rubber, silicone rubber, hydrogenated nitrile rubber, nonhydrogenated nitrile rubber, and 1,2-high vinyl butadiene.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the combining comprises applying pressure to the mixture.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the combining comprises combining in a roller mill.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the combining takes place in an absence of water as a carrier fluid.
11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising reestablishing dislocated sulfidic linkages to establish within the matrix sulfur bridge crosslinked, re-aligned laminates.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the delamination is associated with a portion of rigid sulfidic bridges of the vulcanized rubber particles becoming unbound at an original methyl carbocation while remaining tethered at an original allylic carbocation.