Methods for producing an uncured masterbatch material from a solution masterbatch that includes an uncured polymer, for example a polydiene such as present in a guayule cement, a diluting liquid and a particulate filler. The solution masterbatch is subjected to resonant acoustic mixing which provides excellent dispersion of the solution components and leads to a masterbatch material having desirable properties. After resonant acoustic mixing, the solution masterbatch can be dried and further processed with other components and a curative to prepare a vulcanized composition.

The present invention relates to a foam made of a specific material having superior properties and to cosmetics comprising said foam.

A toy building element made of recycled Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (“ABS”) material and manufactured by processing, of a resin comprising, mechanically recycled ABS polymers and/or chemically recycled ABS polymers recovered from a solvent dissolution recycling process. A method for the manufacture of a toy building element includes providing and screening an ABS waste material. The method includes recovering recycled ABS polymers from the screened ABS waste material by subjecting the ABS waste material to grinding and/or a solvent dissolution recycling process. The method includes obtaining a resin by mixing the recovered ABS polymers with one or more additive(s) and optionally one or more ABS polymers selected from the group consisting of virgin ABS polymers, chemically recycled ABS polymers recovered from pyrolysis and chemically recycled ABS polymers recovered from chemical depolymerisation. The method thereafter includes manufacturing the toy building element by processing the resin.

A curative for epoxidized plant-based oils and epoxidized natural rubber is created from the reaction between a naturally occurring polyfunctional acid and an epoxidized plant-based oil is disclosed. The curative may be used to produce at least one of six different materials, wherein each type of material may be configured as a thermosetting elastomer that is crosslinked with β-hydroxyester linkages. The materials may be configured as a leather-like material, a foam material, a molded elastomer, a coating, an adhesive, and/or a rigid or semi-rigid material. Illustrative articles made from any combination of the six materials may be recycled using a mechano-chemical process to de-crosslink the thermosetting elastomer.

The present invention provides a process for forming an article from a diene rubber, comprising: providing a raw diene rubber substance comprising 1,2-polybutadiene rubber component; adding to the raw diene rubber substance a peroxide as a vulcanizing agent; softening the raw diene rubber at a first temperature of not more than 200° C.; vulcanizing the diene rubber at a second temperature of not more than 200° C., with contacting the diene rubber to an ambient atmosphere; and forming from the vulcanized diene rubber an article.

A pneumatic tire having a fiber-reinforced rubber layer can help prevent foreign objects from penetrating/extending beyond the tread and into its underlying layer(s), thereby desirably increasing the overall lifespan of the tire. In one embodiment, the tire includes at least one fiber-reinforced rubber layer, which can be generally supported by a tire carcass and interposed directly between a tread portion and belt ply. The fiber-reinforced rubber layer can define a barrier/barrier layer between the tread portion and belt ply and includes a rubber compound that is reinforced with one or more types of fiber (e.g., chopped nylon fiber) and has one or more specific chemical compounds that can provide desirable barrier properties (e.g., abrasion resistance, penetration energy, and DIN properties), thereby helping to prevent foreign objects from penetrating/extending beyond the tire tread and into its underlying layer(s), such as the belt ply and carcass.

A continuous process for making a pressure-sensitive adhesive is disclosed. A mixture comprising natural rubber having a Mooney viscosity of 85 to 100, a tackifier, a filler, and 0.1 to 5 wt. % of an added C.sub.12-C.sub.24 fatty acid based on the amount of mixture is masticated in a first section of a single- or twin-screw extruder. Mastication of the mixture continues in at least one subsequent extruder section in the presence of additional tackifier. The product is a homogeneous, reduced-viscosity pressure-sensitive adhesive. The minor proportion of added C.sub.12-C.sub.24 fatty acid aids mastication of the rubber and enables high throughput without addition of peptizers. Duct tapes made from the adhesives display improved adhesion to steel, better adhesion bond strength, and enhanced seven-day clean removability from even difficult substrates such as marble or ceramic tile.

Provided herein are organic solvent-based processes for the removal of rubber from non-Hevea plants such as guayule shrubs. By the use of the processes, solid purified rubber can be obtained that contains 0.05-0.5 weight % dirt, 0.2-1.5 weight % ash, and 0.1-4 weight % resin (when it has been dried so as to contain 0.8 weight % volatile matter).

A tire is provided with an external sidewall, said external sidewall comprising at least one elastomeric composition based on: (a) an elastomeric matrix comprising at least one diene elastomer, (b) a crosslinking system, and (c) at least one polymer incompatible with the elastomeric matrix. A process for the preparation of an elastomeric composition for an external sidewall is also disclosed.

According to the process for preparing a vulcanized rubber composition of the invention comprising (a) a step of preparing a master batch comprising a butadiene rubber and silica, (b) a step of preparing a master batch comprising an isoprene rubber and silica, (c) a step of kneading the master batch obtained in (a) and the master batch obtained in (b), and (d) a step of vulcanizing a kneaded product obtained in (c), wherein the obtained vulcanized rubber composition comprises a BR phase and a IR phase, which are incompatible with each other, a predetermined abundance ratio α of silica in the BR phase satisfies 0.3≦α≦0.7 (Relation 1), and a proportion β of the butadiene rubber satisfies 0.4≦β≦0.8 (Relation 2) it is possible to improve performance on ice and abrasion resistance and to provide a vulcanized rubber composition having excellent performance on ice and abrasion resistance, and a studless tire with a tread made using the same.