Performing well in Black
Responding to customer questions, Nynas decided to study how its biobased NYTEX® BIO 6200 oil performs in rubber formulations based on carbon black.
Carlo Silvestri
Senior Technical Advisor
Nynas AB
Widening the scope for the company’s biobased tyre oil NYTEX® BIO 6200, the latest comparative study conducted at Nynas’ Rubber Compounding Lab shows that the biobased tyre oil performs perfectly well in rubber compounds reinforced with carbon black.
“Previously published results from comparative studies have been based on silica-reinforced rubber formulations designed for high-performance tyre tread. These studies, in addition to performance testing in real tyres, have provided very good results for key properties, confirming that NYTEX® BIO 6200 will perform at least as well as conventional mineral tyre oils without the necessity of any major re-compounding,” explains Carlo Silvestri, Senior Technical Advisor, Tyre and Rubber Oils, Nynas Naphthenics.
Produced with renewable feedstock, NYTEX® BIO 6200 provides tyre manufacturers with the added benefit of sustainability, while retaining the performance of current mineral oils. Ranked as one of the most important sustainability projects by the European Rubber Journal (ERJ), the biobased alternative tyre oil also fulfils Nynas’ commitment to proactively contribute to more sustainable development.
“NYTEX® BIO 6200 has been studied extensively at our Rubber Compounding Lab and we continue to expand on these evaluations, involving more and more compound categories,” says Carlo Silvestri.
So, when some of Nynas’ customers expressed an interest in how the biobased oil would perform in rubber formulations based on carbon black, the company’s rubber specialists devised a comparative study.
Compounds made with the biobased oil were performance tested alongside conventionally formulated compounds for tyre tread as well as sidewall application. In accordance with the general trend within the tyre market, TDAE and MES were used as reference oils for tread and sidewall, respectively.
“The formulations were relatively basic, making them easy to reproduce and of interest to a wide range of customers,” says Carlo Silvestri.
The oils were replaced at ratios of 1:1 without any further reformulation when compound samples were prepared in the mixer at the Nynas lab. The mixing process followed standard procedures with no specific issues on processability for the biobased oil.
Key properties such as viscosity, stability, cure time, torque, hardness, tensile strength, elongation at break, and abrasion as well as dynamic properties were measured for respective compound formulations. Overall, results for the biobased compounds were broadly in line with results for the reference compounds, see Figures 1 and 2 below.
“This confirms that NYTEX® BIO 6200 works well also in polymer blend formulations using carbon black filler. These latest results indicate that our biobased oil is a suitable alternative in all tyre compounds without necessitating re-compounding, and adding sustainability as a plus for tyre manufacturers,” states Carlo Silvestri.
