Cabot launches new technology platform for sustainable carbons

Boston, Massachusetts – Cabot Corp has launched a new technology platform to advance "sustainable reinforcing carbons", it was announced 21 March.

With Evolve Sustainable Solutions, Cabot said it aimed to develop products that “offer sustainable content with reliable performance at industrial scale.”

The products will deliver reinforcing carbons, certified by the International Sustainability & Carbon Certification (ISCC Plus), across three sustainability categories including:

• Recovered: Produced using materials recovered from end-of-life-tires, such as tire pyrolysis oils (through mass balance approach) or reclaimed carbons co-pelletised with virgin carbon blacks.

• Renewable: Produced from renewable materials, such as bio-based feedstocks through mass balance approach and from bio-based particles.

• Reduced: Made with a reduced greenhouse gas footprint from decarbonisation technologies such as emissions capture and other decarbonisation processes.

The US supplier has initally launched two new products which will be sold as the company’s first-ever solutions certified by the ISCC Plus.

The new products fall under the ‘recovered’ category and include Vulcan 7H-C circular reinforcing carbon and Sterling SO-RC110 circular reinforcing carbon.

Vulcan 7H-C circular reinforcing carbon is a reinforcing material made from ISCC Plus certified tire pyrolysis oil derived from end-of-life tires.

According to Cabot, it delivers "optimal dispersibility and extrusion characteristics" to rubber compounds.

The drop-in solution’s performance is comparable to the existing Vulcan 7H carbon black or ASTM N234 carbon black.

It is suitable for synthetic and natural rubber-based tire treads and industrial rubber products that require high wear resistance, such as conveyor belts and solid tires.

Sterling SO-RC110 is a semi-reinforcing material containing 10% recovered carbon material.

It uses Cabot’s co-pelletisation technology, combining ISCC Plus certified recovered carbon material with its Sterling SO carbon black to deliver performance comparable to ASTM N550 carbon black.

The reinforcement carbon is suitable for applications that require higher sustainable content without compromising rubber performance.

Applications include the sidewalls and under tread compounds in passenger car & light truck tires as well as industrial rubber products such as rubber hoses, construction profiles, engine mounts and belt inner layers.

“Our Evolve Sustainable Solutions platform… will play a critical role in our sustainability journey as we look to develop new products and processes with a sustainability benefit,” said Aatif Misbah VP and general manager sustainable solutions, reinforcement materials segment.

Cabot, he went on to say, has a number of projects in various stages of development in collaboration with customers and technology partners aimed at delivering "a robust sustainable material pipeline."