Investigation into the interactions between filler and elastomers used for tyre production

An investigation in the interactions between silica and elastomers used in the production of tyre treads was carried out. To achieve some knowledge on the interactions between reinforcing agent and elastomers, which are fundamental in determining the rubber reinforcement, inverse gas chromatography (IGC) at infinite dilution was used to evaluate surface properties of both unmodified and modified silica and to calculate the adsorption free energy and enthalpy of low molecular weight analogues of elastomers. The predictions derived from the thermodynamic study were compared with some of the results obtained by a morphological analysis of silica-filled compounds carried out by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and automated image analysis (AIA).