Vegetable Oil Plasticizer Rubber Mixture for Tire Sustainability
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current rubber mixtures for vehicle tires, belts, and hoses face challenges in balancing conflicting goals such as wet grip, dry braking, rolling resistance, and wear behavior, while also being environmentally unsustainable due to the use of fossil-based plasticizers.
Innovation Solution
A rubber mixture using a plasticizer with an oxygen content of 0-7% derived from non-fossil sources through thermal conversion of vegetable oil, replacing conventional mineral oil plasticizers, which improves stiffness and rolling resistance without compromising physical properties.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If conventional mineral oil plasticizers are used in rubber mixtures, then the mixture shows good flow properties and processability, but the environmental sustainability deteriorates due to dependence on fossil resources
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by modifying the chemical composition parameters of plasticizers - specifically transitioning from fossil-based mineral oils to vegetable oil-based plasticizers with controlled oxygen content (0-7%). This parameter change maintains the necessary flow properties and processability while fundamentally improving environmental sustainability by eliminating dependence on finite fossil resources.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs renewable vegetable oils as replaceable plasticizers that can be sustainably produced from regenerating agricultural sources. These vegetable oil-based plasticizers serve as temporary, renewable alternatives to non-renewable mineral oils, maintaining functionality while improving environmental compatibility through sustainable sourcing.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If vegetable oils are used as plasticizers in rubber mixtures, then environmental sustainability improves, but the oxygen content becomes too high causing poor physical properties
Solution Approach 1:
The patent precisely controls the oxygen content parameter of vegetable oil-based plasticizers, limiting it to 0-7% through selection of specific vegetable oils and processing methods. This parameter control resolves the contradiction by maintaining environmental sustainability benefits while preventing excessive oxygen content from degrading physical properties such as stiffness and rolling resistance.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by selecting specific types of vegetable oils with particular compositional characteristics that provide the desired balance between environmental benefits and physical performance. Different vegetable oils are chosen based on their specific properties to optimize performance in different application areas of the rubber mixture.
3Reliability
If silica replaces carbon black in tread compounds, then wet grip improves, but rolling resistance and wear behavior deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs composite material strategies by combining silica fillers with specifically formulated vegetable oil-based plasticizers in optimized ratios. This composite approach creates a synergistic effect where the plasticizer modifies the silica-rubber interface, improving wet grip through better filler dispersion while simultaneously reducing rolling resistance by optimizing the mixture's viscoelastic properties.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the chemical and physical parameters of the rubber mixture by introducing vegetable oil-based plasticizers with specific oxygen content ranges. These parameter changes affect the interaction between silica filler and rubber matrix, enabling improved wet grip while mitigating the increase in rolling resistance that typically accompanies silica reinforcement.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The rubber mixture achieves improved environmental sustainability and performance by maintaining or enhancing physical properties, such as stiffness and rolling resistance, while reducing dependence on petroleum-based materials.
Implementation Method 1
which was created by thermal conversion of vegetable oil
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to a rubber compound, in particular for vehicle tires, belts, straps and hoses. The rubber compound contains at least the following components: - at least one polar or non-polar rubber and - at least one light and/or dark filler and - at least one plasticizer, wherein the plasticizer has an oxygen content of 0 to 7 wt.% and is derived from an oil from non-fossil sources.