Various studies have been conducted to improve silica dispersion of silica filled tire tread compounds; among them, silica wet masterbatch (WMB) technology is known to be suitable for manufacturing silica filled compounds that have high silica content...
Various studies have been conducted to improve silica dispersion of silica filled tire tread compounds; among them, silica wet masterbatch (WMB) technology is known to be suitable for manufacturing silica filled compounds that have high silica content and high dispersibility. Till now, the WMB study is focused on the natural rubber (NR) or emulsion styrene- butadiene rubber (ESBR) that does not have a silica-affinity functional group, and a study of NR or ESBR having a silica-affinity functional group is still not well known. Unlike the dry masterbatch technology, the WMB technology can solve the problems associated with the high Mooney viscosity when applied to silica-friendly rubber. However, a coagulant suitable for each functional group has not yet been determined. Therefore, in this study, different coagulant applied silica WMB was prepared by applying calcium chloride, sulfuric acid, acetic acid, and propionic acid by using a carboxyl group functionalized reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer ESBR. The evaluation of the WMB compounds revealed that the calcium chloride added WMB compound showed excellent silica dispersion, abrasion resistance, and rolling resistance.