Void Volume Measurement: An alternative Approach to Determine the Initial Structure of Silica

To improve the abrasion resistance of silica filled passenger car tire tread compounds a good dispersion and distribution of the silica in the rubber matrix is required. From the literature it is known that the structure of fillers affects the dispersion process. The most common method to evaluate the initial structure of silica is the DOA measurement, whereby dioctyladipate (DOA) is absorbed by the void volume of a filler. Due to certain limitations of this DOA measurement an alternative method, the void volume measurement (VV), was investigated. This VV was successfully implemented to use it as a favorable alternative to the DOA measurement to describe the initial structure of silica.