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Reverse engineering of vulcanised rubber compounds: an overview of analytical strategies
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This review paper summarizes the lab techniques scientists use to figure out exactly what's inside rubber products like tires — breaking down the chemicals, fillers, and additives they contain. This matters because it helps researchers track how rubber breaks down over time into tire wear particles, a type of microplastic pollution that ends up in our air, water, and soil, which is important for understanding potential exposure risks and improving recycling methods.
Abstract Reverse engineering of rubber materials is a complex analytical process aimed at identifying polymer composition, fillers, additives, curing systems, and degradation products in vulcanised rubber compounds. Due to the complex multi-component nature of vulcanised rubbers, reliable characterisation requires integration of complementary analytical techniques rather than use of a single method. This review summarises the major workflow steps used in reverse engineering of rubber compounds, including representative sampling, sample preparation, thermal analysis, extraction procedures, instrumental analyses, organic characterisation, crosslink evaluation, mechanical testing, and degradation assessment. Particular attention is devoted to thermal methods (TGA, DSC and DMA), spectroscopic techniques (FT-IR, Raman, NMR, XRF, SEM/EDS), and chromatographic approaches such as Py-GC/MS and HPLC used for identification of polymers, fillers, oils, antioxidants, and curatives. The review further discusses characterisation of sulphur crosslink structures, oxidative aging, fractographic analysis, and environmental aspects associated with tire wear particles and rubber recycling. Emphasis is placed on integrated interpretation of analytical data for reconstruction of compound formulations, evaluation of degradation processes, and failure analysis of rubber products. The presented overview highlights the importance of reverse engineering methodologies for material identification, quality control, recycling evaluation, and durability assessment in modern rubber technology.
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