Analysis of volatile organic compounds emission in the rubber recycling products quality assessment

Abstract

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emission affects the quality of GTR-based materials and might limits their potential applications.In this work, a brief review VOCs generated during waste rubber management and recycling are highlighted and discussed. A special attention was focused on: i) ground tire rubber (GTR) characteristics; ii) environmental aspects related to GTR applications and iii) GTR degradation and volatile compounds emission.Analytical information about VOCs emission profile allows more depth understanding of rubber degradation mechanisms, generated low-molecular-weight products and their impact on the environment and human health.This work confirms that suitable and standardized protocols for qualitative and quantitative VOCs analysis and proper monitoring of selected “markers” (e.g. benzothiazole, limonene, BTEX compounds) can be promising tool for rubber recycling products quality assessment.

Keywords

• Waste tires
• Recycling
• Volatile organic compounds
• Emission
• Environmental aspects