The present invention provides an automotive tire containing from 0.1 wt % to 50 wt % hydrophobic nanocellulose. Hydrophobic nanocellulose may include lignin-coated nanocellulose and/or a chemically modified surface to increase hydrophobicity. The nanocellulose may include cellulose nanofibrils and/or cellulose nanocrystals. The nanocellulose may be introduced into tire components such as inner liner, body ply, sidewall, beads, apex, belts, treads, cushion gum, and textile fabric. The nanocellulose may be obtained from a biomass-fractionation process utilizing an acid catalyst, a solvent for lignin, and water to generate a lignin-containing nanocellulose precursor, followed by mechanical treatment of the nanocellulose precursor to produce the nanocellulose. For example, the nanocellulose may be obtained from the AVAP® process. The tire may further include one or more additional components derived from lignocellulosic biomass. For example, the tire may contain lignin-derived carbon black, lignin-derived antioxidants, or biomass-derived silica. The tire may also contain synthetic polymers derived from biomass sugars.

In a first aspect, the present invention is directed to a rubber composition comprising 70 phr to 95 phr of styrene butadiene rubber comprising at least 5 phr of a first styrene butadiene rubber having a glass transition temperature within a range of −49° C. to −15° C. and at least 45 phr of a second styrene butadiene rubber having a glass transition temperature within a range of −50° C. to −89° C., wherein the rubber composition comprises more of the second styrene butadiene rubber than of the first styrene butadiene rubber. Moreover, the rubber composition comprises 5 phr to 30 phr of one or more of natural rubber and synthetic polyisoprene; 135 phr to 200 phr of silica; and at least 55 phr of at least one hydrocarbon resin comprising at least one terpene resin having a glass transition temperature of at least 30° C.

This disclosure provides a tire formed of a body having multiple plies and a tread that surrounds the body. The plies and/or the treads and/or other surfaces of the tire include one or more resonators that respond to being interrogated by an externally generated excitation signal. Multiple resonators formed of electrically-conducting materials are disposed (e.g., printed) on the plies and/or tread and/or other surfaces of the tire. Each of a group of multiple resonators can be individually configured to respond to different frequencies of the excitation signal such that the presence of a response (e.g., a measured attenuation of the excitation signal return) or lack of response (e.g., based on comparison of the excitation signal return to calibration curves) from individual ones of the multiple resonators can be combined to form a serial number that is unique to the tire or other elastomer-containing component (e.g., belts, hoses, etc.) being interrogated.

Provided are a rubber composition for tires that provides improved silica dispersion and fuel economy while maintaining good hardness, and a pneumatic tire including the rubber composition. The present invention relates to a rubber composition for tires, containing a rubber component, silica, and a silica dispersing agent represented by the following formula (I). ##STR00001##

Disclosed is a method of preparing a rubber composition comprising the steps of (a) blending in at least one preparatory mixing step at least one natural or synthetic rubbery polymer, a silica filler, a silica coupling agent, and at least one vulcanization accelerator; and (b) subsequently blending therewith in a final mixing step a sulfur curative, wherein the average glass transition temperature of the polymer(s) is −55° C. or less.

To provide a narrow and large-diameter tire capable of improving noise performance at high speeds without compromising handling performance at low temperatures.

The tire has a tread portion formed of an elastomer composition. A relationship between a tire outer diameter (Dt) and a tire cross-sectional width (Wt) satisfy a following expression (1). The tread portion includes at least one circumferential groove extending in a tire circumferential direction. A rubber thickness at a groove bottom of the circumferential groove is 0.05 to 0.25 times a maximum thickness of the tread portion. The elastomer composition has a phase difference δ of 5.0×10.sup.−2π [rad] or less between a maximum value of strain and a maximum value of stress when repeatedly deformed at a temperature of 30 degrees Celsius and a frequency of 10 Hz in a dynamic viscoelasticity test;

1963.4≤(Dt.sup.2×π/4)/Wt≤2827.4  (1).

A rubber compound suitable for passenger tires may comprise: 40 to 70 parts by weight per hundred parts by weight rubber (phr) of a long chain branched cyclopentene ring-opening rubber (LCB-CPR) having a glass transition temperature (Tg) of −120° C. to −80° C., a g′.sub.vis of 0.50 to 0.91, and a ratio of cis to trans of 40:60 to 5:95, 30 phr to 60 phr of a styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR), wherein the SBR has a glass transition temperature (Tg) of −60° C. to −5° C., 50 phr to 110 phr of a reinforcing filler, and 20 phr to 50 phr of a process oil.

Crumb rubber obtained from recycled tires is subjected to a process involving photodissociation to break a sulfur bond, sulfur-sulfur and/or sulfur-carbon bonds. The process utilizes a component that generates photonic energy upon being subjected to a compressing force (e.g., pressure). The photonic energy is bandwidth resonant with the sulfur-sulfur and/or sulfur-carbon bond, causing the bond to break apart. The resulting rubber is suitable for use in applications typically utilizing virgin rubber, such as new tires, engineered rubber articles, and asphalt rubber for use in waterproofing and paving applications.

An aircraft tire component is disclosed herein, including natural rubber, a peptizer, carbon black, graphene, wherein the graphene has a thickness of less than about 3.2 nm, a particle size of between about 50 nm and about 10 μm, and contains greater than about 95% carbon, aliphatic hydrocarbon resin, treated distillate aromatic extract, N-(1,3-dimethylbutyl)-N′-phenyl-1,4-benzenediamine, 2,2,4-trimethyl-1,2-dihydroquinoline, paraffinic wax, microcrystalline wax, zinc oxide, stearic acid, N-tert-butyl-benzothiazole sulfonamide, sulfur, and pre vulcanization inhibitor, wherein the aircraft tire component is chosen from the group consisting of a tread, an inner liner, and a sidewall.

In a pneumatic tire, a tread portion comprises longitudinal and/or lateral grooves; a groove area ratio of a vehicle inner side region of the tread portion ranges from 30% to 39%; a difference between the groove area ratio Sin and a groove area ratio Sout ranges from 6-14%; and the rubber composition comprises a diene rubber comprising from 10-30 parts by mass of natural rubber and from 70-90 parts by mass of a solution polymerized styrene-butadiene rubber and/or an emulsion polymerized styrene-butadiene rubber per 100 parts by mass of the diene rubber, from 80-150 parts by mass of silica per 100 parts by mass of the diene rubber, from 0.5-10 parts by mass of a cyclic polysulfide per 100 parts by mass of the diene rubber, and from 3-10 mass % of an alkyltriethoxysilane having an alkyl group having from 3-20 carbons relative to an amount of the silica.