Microwave treatment in waste rubber recycling – Recent advances and limitations

Environmentally-friendly microwave heating is increasingly used in polymer chemistry and technology. The selectivity and highly efficiency in the heat transfer present a huge advantage in systems based on recycling, improving their productivity and economic competitiveness. In case of the industrial...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Authors: Formela, Krzysztof, Hejna, Aleksander, Zedler, Lukasz, Colom Fajula, Xavier|||0000-0003-3511-852X, Cañavate Ávila, Francisco Javier|||0000-0002-1502-6962
Format: article
Publication Date:2019
Country:España
Institution:Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)
Repository:UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC
Language:English
OAI Identifier:oai:upcommons.upc.edu:2117/134892
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/2117/134892
https://dx.doi.org/10.3144/expresspolymlett.2019.48
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Vulcanization
Rubber--Recycling
Pyrolysis
Recycling
Waste rubber
Microwave radiation
Devulcanization
Cautxú -- Reciclatge
Cautxú -- Residus
Piròlisi
Vulcanització
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Enginyeria dels materials
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Desenvolupament humà i sostenible::Enginyeria ambiental::Tractament dels residus
Description
Summary:Environmentally-friendly microwave heating is increasingly used in polymer chemistry and technology. The selectivity and highly efficiency in the heat transfer present a huge advantage in systems based on recycling, improving their productivity and economic competitiveness. In case of the industrial recycling of waste rubbers, especially end-of-life tires, microwave-induced devulcanization and pyrolysis are nowadays considered as promising approaches. This work aims to report the recent progress in microwave treatments of vulcanized rubbers with different compositions. Special attention is focused on the correlation between microwave processing parameters and devulcanization/pyrolysis efficiency, which have a significant impact on the structure-property relationships of the obtained products. Moreover, the main challenges affecting the future of the industrial application of the microwave technology in rubber recycling are also discussed