A Review on Analysis of Reinforced Recycled Rubber Composites

Abstract

Rubber recycling attracts considerable attention by a variety of industries around the world due to shrinking resources, increasing cost of raw materials, growing awareness of sustainable development, and environmental issues. Recycled rubber is commonly used in aeronautic, automotive, and transportation industries. In this study, recycled rubber composites designed with different reinforcements in the literature are scrutinized by means of toughening mechanisms, mechanical and physical properties, as well as microstructural and fracture surface analysis. Microscale reinforcements (glass bubbles, alumina fiber, etc.) and nanoscale reinforcements (nanosilica, graphene nanoplatelets, etc.) utilized as reinforcements in rubber composites are thoroughly reviewed. The general mechanical properties reported by previous studies, such as tensile, compressive, and flexural strength, are investigated with the main goal of optimizing the amount of reinforcement used. The majority of the studies on recycled rubber composites show that recycled rubber reinforced with microscale particles leads to the development of physical and mechanical properties of the structures and also provides low-cost and lightweight composites for several application areas. Moreover, recycled rubber containing composites can be suitable for applications where high toughness and high resistance to impact are desirable. The present review aims to demonstrate research on reinforced recycled rubber composites in the literature and prospective outcomes.