Fig. 1: Current linear rubber economy, characterized by a “take-make-use-dispose” model and potential routes to guide the development and implementation of sustainable vulcanized rubber valorization methods. | Nature Communications

Fig. 1: Current linear rubber economy, characterized by a “take-make-use-dispose” model and potential routes to guide the development and implementation of sustainable vulcanized rubber valorization methods.

From: From waste rubber to value polybutadiene modification for circular materials

Fig. 1: Current linear rubber economy, characterized by a “take-make-use-dispose” model and potential routes to guide the development and implementation of sustainable vulcanized rubber valorization methods.

a Derived from petroleum-based feedstocks, monomers such as 1,3-butadiene are polymerized to yield linear polydienes, which are used as a building block, e.g., to undergo vulcanization, and to build up cross-linked materials. b Chemical structures of relevant commercial polydiene homo- and copolymers, covering a wide range of applications (e.g., vulcanized styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) in car tires). c Current waste management of end-of-life tires (ELTs)20. d Waste hierarchy to guide the transition towards a circular rubber economy. e Based on the frameworks of Green and Circular Chemistry, recent linear and vulcanized polydiene post-polymerization modifications are evaluated in this perspective, focusing on their potential to address the chemical modification of post-consumer vulcanized rubber waste.

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