Rubbers can be found into various fields of applications like aerospace, sports equipments and tires. In the last decade, the rubber production has been increasing to overcome 26 million tons in 2015. Elasticity, solvent permeability and stress durability are the main characteristics targeted for elastomeric materials. In order to achieve these properties, polymer chains need to be cross-linked to form a polymer network. Sulfur vulcanization represents the main method industrially employed for tires. However, the irreversibility of this chemical reaction generates a large amount of rubber wastes. Additionally, there is not a viable method for recycling these irreversible networks. To tackle this issue, various dynamic linkages have been successfully used on different polymers to create reversible networks. Reversible linkages can be based on several reactions/interactions such as Diels-Alder reaction, π-staking interaction, metal coordination or hydrogen-bonding.<br/>We report here a new method to synthesize a reversibly cross-linked polybutadiene/polyisoprene network based on covalent bonding or hydrogen bonding. High molar mass polymers were first chemically degraded into smaller chains, in order to obtain a liquid/viscous polymer. Then, polymeric chain were modified by furan or ureidopyrimidinone (UPy) moieties in order to develop reversible interactions. In both cases, a reversible network was obtained. Thermal stability of the material was then analyzed by Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA) and elastic properties were studied by tensile tests. Impact of the chain length, cross-linking density and recyclability of the polydiene reversible networks will be particularly discussed.

Recyclable elastomeric networks based on reversible cross-linking chemistry

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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