THE EFFECT OF CARBON-BLACK FILLING ON THE PYROLYSIS BEHAVIOR OF NATURAL AND SYNTHETIC RUBBERS

Natural rubber and synthetic styrene butadiene rubber of known formulations with and without carbon filler were analyzed by pyrolysis Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy (Py-IR), pyrolysis-gas chromatography/flame ionization detection (Py-GC) and pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS) to determine the effect, if any, of the presence of carbon fillers on the pyrolysis behavior. Carbon black did not affect the qualitative results. We demonstrated that Py-IR and Py-GC are rapid and reliable methods for the identification of the polymer used in commercial carbon-filled elastomers, with no interference from the carbon filler.