US 12,240,979 B2
Reinforced rubber composition
Li Jia, Hudson, OH (US); and Yu Sun, Cuyahoga Falls, OH (US)
Assigned to The University of Akron, Akron, OH (US)
Filed by Li Jia, Hudson, OH (US); and Yu Sun, Cuyahoga Falls, OH (US)
Filed on Jan. 25, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/583,632.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/141,118, filed on Jan. 25, 2021.
Prior Publication US 2022/0235204 A1, Jul. 28, 2022
Int. Cl. C08L 9/00 (2006.01); C08K 5/37 (2006.01)
CPC C08L 9/00 (2013.01) [C08K 5/37 (2013.01); C08L 2205/025 (2013.01); Y02W 30/62 (2015.05)] 19 Claims
 
1. A curable rubber composition comprising:
a vulcanizable rubber;
a plurality of ground vulcanized rubber particles;
a reactive surfactant represented by the formula:
X—Y—Z
where X is a reactive group, Y is a hydrophobic linkage, and Z is a polar group, and where the reactive group is capable of forming covalent links with the vulcanizable rubber during compounding or vulcanization and the polar group is capable of forming self-assemblies via intermolecular interactions; and wherein the reactive surfactant is incompatible with the vulcanizable rubber; and
wherein a ratio of the plurality of ground rubber particles to the reactive surfactant, by weight, is from 15:1 or greater.