Structure and Properties of Crumb Rubber–Starch Composites

Abstract

Crumb rubber–starch composites of various compositions were produced by shear deformation in a closed-type mixer (Brabender). It was found that the introduction of starch increases the elastic modulus, decreases the elongation at break, and hardly influences the ultimate tensile strength. The observed increase in the mechanical parameters after exposure to soil is likely to be due to crosslinking under environmental action, which was confirmed by IR spectroscopy. Using X-ray microtomography, the porosity in the matrix was calculated, and exposure to soil was shown to increase the porosity.