Lucas Dos Santos

senior research associate

Lucas Dos Santos is a senior research associate at Qemetica. He has fifteen years of experience in polymer and silica development for the rubber and tire industry, having worked previously at the Goodyear Tire & Rubber, Co. He holds a PhD in polymer science from the University of Akron and a BSc in chemical engineering from the Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Dos Santos is the author of five US patents and several publications about silica and tires.

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Presentation

Market needs driving the use of high-surface-area silicas

There is a global increase in the number of electric vehicles on the road, which require tires with new specifications. Sustainability efforts also demand tires with improved wear resistance and low rolling resistance. High-surface-area silicas can provide technical solutions to the new requirements. The presentation will discuss how to select the optimum silica for a certain application and the benefits and drawbacks of high-surface-area silicas in rubber compounds. Furthermore, the presentation will discuss how to process compounds to obtain the best performance out of these silicas.