Study on the Mechanism and Experiment of Styrene Butadiene Rubber Reinforcement by Spent Fluid Catalytic Cracking Catalyst

Abstract

Spent Fluid Catalytic Cracking (FCC) Catalyst is a major waste in the field of the petroleum processing field, with a large output and serious pollution. The treatment cost of these waste catalysts is high, and how to achieve their efficient reuse has become a key topic of research at home and abroad. To this end, this paper conducted a mechanistic and experimental study on the replacement of some carbon blacks by spent FCC catalysts for the preparation of rubber products and explored the synergistic reinforcing effect of spent catalysts and carbon blacks, in order to extend the reuse methods of spent catalysts and reduce the pollution caused by them to the environment. The experimental results demonstrated that the filler dispersion and distribution in the compound are more uniform after replacing the carbon black with modified spent FCC catalysts. The crosslinking density of rubber increases, the Payne effect is decreased, and the dynamic mechanical properties and aging resistance are improved. When the number of replacement parts reached 15, the comprehensive performance of the rubber composites remained the same as that of the control group. In this paper, the spent FCC catalysts modified by the physical method instead of the carbon-black-filled SBR can not only improve the performance of rubber products, but also can provide basic technical and theoretical support to realize the recycling of spent FCC catalysts and reduce the environmental pressure. The feasibility of preparing rubber composites by spent catalysts is also verified.

Keywords: SBR composites; physical modification; reinforcement mechanism; spent FCC catalyst.

Figure 1

Flow chart of spent FCC catalyst modification.

Figure 2

XRD spectrum of spent FCC catalyst.

Figure 3

Particle size distribution of spent FCC catalyst.

Figure 4

Changes in pore morphology of spent FCC catalysts before and after modification. (a) Before modification; (b) after modification.

Figure 5

Relative proportions of main elements. (a) Before modification; (b) after modification.

Figure 6

Storage modulus change diagram of rubber composite (abscissa a, b, and c in (d) correspond to three storage modulus change diagrams: a, b, and c, respectively). (a) Formulation 1^#–4^#; (b) formulation 1^#, 5^#–7^#; (c) formulation 1^#, 8^#-1; (d) change of storage modulus.

Figure 7

Scanning electron micrograph of rubber composites prepared by replacing part of carbon black with spent FCC catalyst. (a) 1^#; (b) 5^#; (c) 6^#; (d) 7^#.

Figure 8

Dynamic mechanical properties of rubber composites.(a) tanδ-T Curve of the composites; (b) is magnified graphs of curves around −30 °C; (c) is magnified graphs of curves around 0 °C; (d) is magnified graphs of curves around 60 °C.