Properties of tire tread compounds based on functionalized styrene butadiene rubber and functionalized natural rubber

Tire tread compounds based on various rubber types, that is, solution styrene-butadiene rubber (SSBR), functionalized (propylamine and dimethoxysilane) solution styrene-butadiene rubber (F-SSBR), natural rubber (NR), chloroacetate-modified natural rubber (CNR), and their blends, were prepared and used as raw rubbers. Properties of tire tread compounds and tire performance were then investigated. Due to the presence of chloroacetate group on its mainchains, CNR demonstrates increases in glass transition temperature and rubber-filler interaction compared to NR leading to a significant improvement in tire performance, particularly wet grip (WG; ~88%), fuel-saving efficiency (FSE; ~15%), and abrasion resistance (~11%). Similarly, F-SSBR shows a greater tire performance than SSBR (~20, ~13, and ~7% improvements in WG, FSE, and abrasion resistance, respectively). Among the rubber blends, F-SSBR/CNR gives the highest tire performance, followed by F-SSBR/NR, SSBR/CNR, and SSBR/NR, respectively. The results suggest the significant enhancement in properties of tire tread compounds by the presence of active functional groups in NR and SSBR molecules. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019 , 137, 48696.