FT-IR study of the reaction between silane coupling agents and silicas used for tread compounds

To optimize the dispersion of silica in elastomer matrices, surface modifiers such as, bis-triethoxysilylpropyltetrasulfane (TESPT) are generally used. In this contribution, the interaction between silica and TESPT were investigated. Triethoxysilane (TES) was used as a model molecule to investigate its reaction with the silica surface, thus gaining information on the more complicated TESPT-silica system.