Functionalized carbon blacks incorporated into functionalized SBR compounds previously have been shown to provide significantly increased filler-elastomer interaction and reduced rolling resistance similar to silica-containing compounds, but without the added process and manufacturing costs.
However, while the use of functionalized elastomers can provide improved compound properties, the potential lack of compounding flexibility and higher cost of such materials may make other alternatives attractive. Thus, the need for improving the filler-elastomer interaction of surface-modified carbon blacks (SM-CBs) in non-functionalized elastomer compounds is beneficial.