Blends of styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) with maleic anhydride
grafted whole tire reclaim (MA-g-WTR) have been prepared and the
cure and mechanical properties have been studied with respect to the
reclaim content. The grafting was carried out in the presence of
dicumylperoxide (DCP) in a Brabender Plasticorder at 150'C. The
presence of anhydride group on the WTR was confirmed by infrared
spectrometry (IR) study. The properties were compared with those of
the blends containing unmodified WTR. Though the cure time was marginally higher, the mechanical properties of the blends containing
grafted WTR were better than that of the unmodified blends.