Recycling the nanostructured carbon from waste tires

Recycling the core-shell structured carbon nanoparticles from waste tires was investigated at a high temperature of 300 °C and a moderate temperature of 140 °C, respectively. The core-shell carbon black (CSCB) nanoparticles could be selectively separated by the reactive extrusion process or warm aging under the effect of swelling. The microstructures of CSCB were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results indicated that the core of CSCB was composed of the carbon black and the shell was made up of the bound rubber which could not be extracted by solvent. In addition, the reinforcing effect of the CSCB in natural rubber (NR) was studied by tensile test. The results showed that the CSCB had higher interfacial interaction with the rubber chains and a new layer of reinforced bound rubber was formed.