DEVELOPMENT AND CHARACTERIZATION OF POLYPROPYLENE

AND TIRE POWDER NANOCOMPOSITE FOR USE IN THE CABIN

OF COMMERCIAL VEHICLES

Kelly Cristina de Lira Lixandrão and Fabio Furlan Ferreira

Center for Natural and Human Sciences (CCNH) - Federal University of ABC (UFABC)

Due to the constant increase of the population and the production of vehicles over the years, the
amount of solid waste generated and deposited in the environment has grown considerably. The tire,
which is one of these materials, comprises a blend of elastomers, fillers, additives and a steel frame.
[1] Due to the presence of vulcanized rubber in its constitution, which generates the crosslinking by
the addition of sulfur, making a material with high chemical and physical resistance, at the end of its
service life, waste tires become difficult to recycle. When they are discarded in inappropriate
locations they can represent a risk of fire, release of oil which can contaminate the water table, among
other causes. [2]
In order to reduce the quantity sent to the environment the waste tire was used as reinforcement in a
polymer matrix composed of polypropylene resins. Polypropylene was chosen because it is a polymer
having high stiffness, low density, good mechanical properties and can be easily processed due to its
low processing temperature. [3] A nanoparticulate system is being studied to enable the use of this
material in the internal part of the vehicle; it must act in order to neutralize the strong and
characteristic odor of the rubber and to date there is no application of this type of material in internal
components.
From the analysis of volatile organic compounds, it was possible to verify that aldehydes and ketones
are compounds with marked odor and formed generally with the burning of the organic materials. It is
important for the elucidation of the volatile odor-emitting compound and determination of the
appropriate nanoparticulate system. Scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction,
thermogravimetry, differential scanning calorimetry, tensile test and impact resistance will be carried
out to determine the morphological, structural, thermal and mechanical properties of the material
developed.

[1] Associação Nacional das Indústrias de Pneumáticos - ANIP. URL http://www.anip.com.br

(accessed 10.10.18).
[2] Laganinhos, C. A.; Tenório, J. A. S. Tecnologias utilizadas para a reutilização, reciclagem e
valorização energética de pneus no Brasil. Polímeros: Ciência e Tecnologia, v. 18, p. 106-118, 2008.
[3] Costa, H. M. da, et. al. Otimização de propriedades mecânicas de misturas ternárias de
polipropileno (PP)/borracha de etileno-propileno-dieno (EPDM)/pó de pneus (SRT) sob tração e
impacto usando a metodologia da superfície de resposta (MSR). Polímeros 22, 27–33, 2012.

The authors thank the financial support provided by CNPq, Brazil (#307664/2015-5 and
#443644/2018-7)

Center for Natural and Human Sciences (CCNH), Federal University of ABC (UFABC), Av.
dos Estados, 5001, CEP: 09210-580, Santo André, SP, Brazil. E-mails:
kelly.silva@ufabc.edu.br; fabio.furlan@ufabc.edu.br