Synthetic rubber tile with thermal resistance modulation

Abstract

A prefabricated tile-type coating, whose manufacture is based on the development of a polymeric composite including mainly recycled synthetic rubber obtained from the grinding of scrap automotive waste tires, virgin rubber, or a combination of both, using as a binder a novel cross-linkable acrylic resin with the ability to be processed by pultrusion. The upper layer of the tile is made of a resin with thermochromic effect that integrates an encapsulated pigment of thermochromic material with a transition temperature in the range of 20-35° C. which changes color from white under high-temperature conditions, i.e. ° C. or greater than dark in conditions of low temperature, that is, 20° C. or less. The tile of elastomeric character obtained has notable competitive advantages compared to other technologies in terms of thermal resistance, solar reflectance, and resistance to the impact caused by hail or other meteorological phenomena.

1 . A synthetic rubber tile with thermal resistance modulation comprising:
 a multilayer element including:   a first layer made of a laminated cellulosic material ( 1 ), the first layer serves as a support layer;   an intermediate layer ( 2 ) made by a film of 2 to 8 mm, made of a crushed synthetic rubber polymeric composite bonded with a thermosetting resin; and   a third layer ( 3 ) made of a thermochromic resin or mixture of resins selected from the group consisting of an acrylic, styrene-acrylic, or vinyl-acrylic and including a pigments such as calcium carbonate, titanium dioxide, and a thermochromic encapsulated pigment with a transition temperature in the range of 20-35° C., the thermochromic encapsulated pigment changes color from a white color under temperatures of 35° C. or above to dark color in conditions of low temperatures, of 20° C. or less; the dark color is capable of absorbing radiation in the range of the infrared (IR) spectrum.   
     
     
         2 . The synthetic rubber tile according to  claim 1 , wherein the first layer ( 1 ) includes a sheet of cellulose including, a sheet of kraft or bond paper. 
     
     
         3 . The synthetic rubber tile according to  claim 1 , wherein the intermediate layer ( 2 ) includes a conglomerate of synthetic rubber obtained from the waste of automotive tires grounded to a mesh in an interval of 0.05-3 mm of average diameter and the thermosetting resin is a thermal-retractable acrylic binder including a polyunsaturated macromonomer of glyceryl alkyl ester acrylate (GAEA). 
     
     
         4 . The synthetic rubber tile according to  claim 3 , wherein the polyunsaturated macromonomer of GAEA is accompanied by at least one of the following acrylic monomers: methyl methacrylate, ethyl acrylate, acrylic acid, acrylate butyl, styrene, and vinyl acetate. 
     
     
         5 . The synthetic rubber tile according to  claim 1 , wherein the crushed synthetic rubber polymeric composite ( 2 ) has a high impact resistance and superior thermal resistance to an asphalt. 
     
     
         6 . The synthetic rubber tile according to  claim 1 , wherein the thermochromic resin ( 3 ) includes a resin of acrylic, vinyl-acrylic, styrene-acrylic or combinations thereof. 
     
     
         7 . The synthetic rubber tile according to  claim 1 , wherein the multilayer element is a root tile or a shingle. 
     
     
         8 . The process of manufacturing the synthetic rubber tile according to  claim 1 , the method comprising the steps of:
 a) integrating the synthetic rubber with an average particle size of 2.5 mm, polyunsaturated macromonomer of GAEA, styrene or butyl acrylate and benzoyl peroxide in a batten mixer, and mixing at a rate of 40 to 100 rpm for a period of 15 minutes to form a homogeneous paste;   b) feeding the paste to a screw-type dosing unit connected to a pultrusion dice set at an internal temperature of 180° C., the pultrusion dice is also fed with kraft paper through a lower part of the dice, the paper serves as a transport element for the paste;   c) pulling the kraft or bond paper by using a traction roller while the paste is fed simultaneously to the pultrusion dice set at 180° C. at a speed that allows the mixture to have a residence time in the pultrusion roller of at least 40 seconds;   d) introducing into an exit of the pultrusion dice the composite of synthetic rubber obtained in a continuous roller system where a mixture of vinyl acrylic resin integrates 70% by weight of the thermochromic pigment applied on the surface, generating a surface film of 0.5 to 1.5 mm thick;   e) moving the paste to a drying oven set at 140° C. which allows the mixture of resin and thermochromic material to dry, thus producing a prefabricated thermochromic elastomeric composite coating.