Preparation and Properties of Silane‐Modified Polyvinyl Alcohol Fiber Reinforced High‐Wear‐Resistant Rubber Solid Tire Tread Compound

Abstract

Rubber‐based solid tire tread compounds suffer from insufficient abrasion resistance, limiting their service life under severe conditions. Here, high‐strength polyvinyl alcohol fiber (PVAF) was surface‐modified with silane coupling agent Si69 to improve its compatibility with a non‐polar NR/SBR matrix. Single‐factor experiments optimized treatment temperature, Si69 concentration, PVAF length, and loading; the optimal levels (70°C, 4 wt% Si69, 3 mm, 2 phr) were then simultaneously applied in a confirmatory experiment to validate performance. Compared with the unfilled compound, the optimized formulation increased crosslink density by 11.2% and extended scorch time by 13.8%, while DIN and Akron abrasion losses decreased by 39.32% and 14.03%, respectively. Wet skid resistance (tan δ at 0°C) remained essentially unchanged, and a modest reduction in rolling resistance (tan δ at 60°C) was observed. These improvements are conditional on the simultaneous use of the four optimized parameters and should not be generalized to all PVAF‐containing formulations. Overall, Si69‐modified PVAF with the optimal parameters proves an effective, cost‐efficient reinforcing filler, offering a new technical pathway for high‐wear‐resistance rubber solid tires.