Impact of gamma irradiation on virgin styrene butadiene rubber blended with ultrasonically devulcanized waste rubber

This investigation focused on the opportunity of devulcanizing waste Rubber (WR) by ultrasonication to study the possibility of utilized as an added substance to replace with styrene‐butadiene rubber (SBR) in preparation process with the final aim of preparation new composites. The present work expects to compare the ultrasonic technique and the previous work on devulcanization by mechano‐chemical method. The influence of the ultrasonication treatment on the WR was explored by Fourier transform infrared, thermogravimetric analysis, scanning electron microscopy analysis revealed that ultrasonication was observed to be the best factor impacting the devulcanization procedure, this procedure suggests that use of specific levels of ultrasonic waves to the vulcanized rubber with a specific aim to accomplish a particular breaking of compound connections: scission of C‐S and S‐S bonds without break carbon–carbon (C‐C) bonds. Various blends of devulcanized WR with SBR was treatments with gamma ray then investigated and compared with find out the rubber giving the highest compatibility for compounding and revulcanization. In addition, a comparison of these results was made with the ones of raw SBR rubber compound. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 59:807–813, 2019. © 2019 Society of Plastics Engineers