The Use of a Surface-Modified Carbon Black with An In-Chain Functionalized Solution SSBR As An Alternative to Higher Cost Green Tire Technology

The requirement for more fuel efficient, safe and environmentally friendly vehicles and corresponding tires, continues to be emphasized. Over the past few decades, an evolution in tire tread compounding has occurred from easy processing, lower cost emulsion styrene butadiene copolymers (ESBRs) with carbon black, to silica filled solution styrene butadiene copolymer (SSBRs) based formulations in order to further improve the hysteretic properties of a tire tread compound. In more recent years, the proliferation of functionalized SSBRs with polar groups has been realized to further improve  the polymer –filler interactions and thus reduce the Payne effect and reduce rolling resistance, and in some cases improve traction. Despite these benefits, “green” tire technology tends to be more expensive and in some cases, can pose processing challenges.

 This paper takes the alternative approach of combining a unique surface-treated carbon black with an in-chain functionalized SSBR in order to develop an alternative technology for “Green Tire” tread compounds with an improved cost structure and processing scheme versus the traditional green tire technology.  It was found that this unique combination resulted in a compound with very low hysteresis and rolling resistance, improved wet traction, excellent abrasion resistance as well as excellent mixing and compound costs. This paper will describe in detail the characteristics of the surface- treated carbon black, the functionalized SSBR, variations in compounding and the resulting lab data as a predictor of tire performance.