This study aims to analyze tire wear particulate matter (TWP) from tread rubber with different formulations and to compare the concentration of TWP with different wear devices. The TWP generated during the abrasion of truck and bus radial (TBR) tires were examined, and the effect of using different types of rubber and carbon black (CB) were investigated. When natural rubber (NR) was solely used as the tire tread rubber material, there was a higher concentration of 5–10 µm TWP. However, when the tread formulation consisted of NR mixed with butadiene rubber, the TWP concentration decreased. Changing the type of CB also reduced the amount of TWP in the 2.5 µm size range. The TWP concentration in the specimens increased with increasing speed and vertical load. The TWP generated during the abrasion tests using wear testers and tire simulators exhibited similar trends. These findings suggest that modifying tire tread formulations can effectively control the distribution and amount of TWP generation.

In this paper, the electrical, mechanical, and thermal properties of PA 6 and PC/PBT composites with various conductive fillers such as carbon black, multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), and branched carbon nanotube (CNT) were investigated. The PA 6 and PC/PBT composites with branched CNT fillers exhibited the highest electrical properties. In particular, The composites with branched CNTs showed more than twice the improved surface resistance and EMI SE than those with MWCNTs. This seems to be because branched CNTs can implement 3D structures compared to linear MWCNTs and easily form stable conductive networks due to the presence of junctions at branches.

In this study, surface form of damaged soft TPU skin were analyzed to expect the mechanism and the test method which reproduce the form was researched. First, samples were characterized into several groups depending on its surface form and analyzed. Then, the principle of perception in surface change was studied. Specimens were tested by major scratch and wear resistance test methods to develop test method, which replicates surface form of damaged sample. The effects of environmental aging - thermal and UV light aging - was also studied by testing chemical change of specimens and perception of scratch depending on the aging time.

ABSTRACTThermally expandable core–shell microcapsules (TEM) were fabricated with an organic steric stabilizer and an inorganic Pickering emulsifier. In order to fabricate a TEM, acrylonitrile (AN) and metacrylonitrile (MAN) were used as monomers. Halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) and poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP) were used as the inorganic Pickering emulsifier and the organic stabilizer, respectively. The liquid hydrocarbon content in the core, and the thermal and expansion properties, of TEMs with two different emulsifiers were compared. The mechanical properties of polypropylene (PP) foams containing TEMs prepared with two types of stabilizers were analyzed. The TEMs polymerized with PVP showed a finer expanded cell, while those fabricated with HNTs resulted in a larger expanded cell in the PP matrix. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016, 133, 44247.

The structure of thermally expandable microcapsule (TEMs) is consisted of a thermoplastic shell which is filled with liquid hydrocarbon at core. The shell of TEMs becomes soft when the temperature is higher than boiling temperature of liquid hydrocarbon. The shell of TEMs is expanded under the high temperature because the inner pressure of TEMs is increased by vaporization of hydrocarbon core. Therefore, the TEMs are applicable for blowing agents and light weight fillers. In this research, we fabricated the polypropylene (PP) foam by using the TEMs and chemical blowing agents and compared to their physical properties. The density of the specimen was decreased when the contents of chemical blowing agents and TEMs were increased. In addition, the mechanical properties (i.e. tensile strength and impact strength) of specimens were deteriorated with increasing amount of chemical blowing agents and TEMs. However, PP foam produced with TEMs showed higher impact strength than the one with the chemical blowing age...

Thermally expandable microcapsules (TEMs) can be expanded upon heating since the activation energy of liquid hydrocarbon at the core of the TEMs increased at high temperature. Due to this property, TEMs are widely used in the industry as blowing agents or light-weight fillers. In this article, chemical blowing agent and TEM were used for making polypropylene (PP) foams, and their mechanical properties were compared. Physical properties (tensile strength, impact strength etc.) of PP foams decreased with increasing the amount of blowing agents while weight of specimen decreased. However, PP foam produced with TEMs showed higher impact strength than the one with a chemical blowing agent. In order to figure out the difference of impact strength, the morphology of PP foamed was investigated. Expanding properties of TEM can be controlled by changing core back distance.

In this study, the effects of multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) dispersion and poly(styrene-co-acrylonitrile)-g-maleic anhydride (SAN-g-MAH) as a compatibilizer on the electrical conductivity, electromagnetic interference shielding effectiveness (EMI SE), and rheological properties of polycarbonate (PC)/poly(acrylonitrile–butadiene–styrene) (ABS)/MWCNT composites were investigated. The morphological results from the scanning and transmission electron microscope images showed that the droplet size of the ABS decreased when the SAN-g-MAH (5 phr) was added to the PC/ABS (80/20) blend. This result suggests that the SAN-g-MAH acts as an effective compatibilizer in the PC/ABS blend. Also, the MWCNT appeared to be located more in the ABS phase (dispersed phase) than in the PC phase (continuous phase). The interfacial tension of the ABS/MWCNT composite was lower than that of the PC–MWCNT composite, and the lower value of interfacial tension of the ABS/MWCNT composite affected the preferred location of the MWCNT in the ABS phase more than in the PC phase. The electrical conductivities and EMI SE of the PC/ABS/MWCNT composite with the compatibilizer were higher than those of the composite without compatibilizer. The complex viscosity of the PC/ABS/MWCNT composite containing the SAN-g-MAH increased with the frequency compared to that of the composite without SAN-g-MAH. This result is possibly due to the increased degree of MWCNT dispersion. The result of rheological properties is consistent with the results of the morphology, electrical conductivity, and EMI SE of the PC/ABS/MWCNT composite.