Dielectric, Thermal, and Mechanical Properties of Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene Reinforced with Used Tires

Mass production of tires as well as their storage or elimination is a real environmental problem. Various methods for recycling of tires are currently used, such as mechanical grinding, which separates vulcanized rubber, steel, and fibers from tires. Rubber is, then, used in several industrial applications such as flooring, insulations, and footwear. This paper focuses on a new application for old used tires (ground tire rubber, GTR). Tire dust and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) have been mixed, and the maximum accepted concentration of GTR can be attained while keeping dielectric, thermal, and mechanical properties within acceptable limits, and therefore their possible industrial application will be in manufacturing of, for example, dielectrics for capacitors, low-voltage electric fences or electrical cable pipes, and trays. Actually, tire dust with particle sizes <700 mu m has been classified into three different groups depending on the particle sizes (p < 200, 200< p < 500, and p > 500 mu m). Afterward, ABS has been mixed with different concentrations of GTR, i.e., 5%, 10%, 20%, 50% and 70%, to establish its properties through thermal, mechanical, and dielectric tests. Finally, the fracture surfaces of the composite samples have been evaluated by using scanning electron microscopy. (c) 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Adv Polym Techn 32: E399E415, 2013; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/adv.21287