I only know of some bike tires that are blue. But why isn’t it more common to find tires in different colors other than black?
In: Chemistry
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The vast majority of tire rubber compounds use a soot-like material called “carbon black” as filler to add strength, rigidity, and durability while reducing cost.
This material is, as you might imagine, jet black.
The rubber itself is brown or white, depending on the source. Natural rubber is brown, synthetics are yellowish or bright white.
The rubber used to make tires is actually white. Manufacturers add carbon black, otherwise known as soot, to tires to make the rubber stronger. This just happens to turn to the rubber black.
Some other additives can be added to change the color, but this isn’t done for a few reasons. One is cost. Additives add to the manufacturing cost. Another is general aesthetic. Tires have been this color for decades and just considered pleasing since we’re used to it. Finally, adding color compounds could alter the tires’ performance and safety. Since there isn’t a whole lot of demand for colored tires, manufactures don’t spend a whole lot of time and money developing them.
The rubber that tires are sourced from is a milky white color, but carbon black is added to the rubber as a stabilizing chemical compound and makes the tire black. … Carbon black protects the tire from the damaging effects of UV light and ozone, two known elements that contribute to the deterioration of the tire.
Fun fact! Since people have already given good answers. The classic white walled tires were initially designed that was for entirely practical reasons, not looks. The blackening compounds that strengthened the rubber also made it less supple. Keeping the sidewalks of the tire as the plain white rubber made for a softer tire, and kept the more resilient rubber on the treads where most of the wear occurs.
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Carbon black (N330) is added to all tyres at around 40%, this acts as a functional filler by protecting from UV as has been said already but it’s main purpose is abrasion resistance. Tyres take a heavy load whilst being dragged across tarmac as can be seen when you skid and it leaves marks on the road. The carbon black reinforces the rubber so that it is far more durable, also known as a composite. Whilst fumed silica has been shown to give the same abrasion resistance in rubber as carbon black and would render a white tyre or coloured if you were to add pigment ( matching tyres and paint job wow!!) it would be more expensive to produce and would get dirty very quickly without anyway of ever cleaning them other that taking layers of rubber off.
I haven’t seen it mentioned, but carbon black also adds conductivity. Back in the 90’s a tire company made a high efficiency tire that cut back on carbon black for some reason, and it was revised after complaints of static shocks. Carbon black in tires isn’t that conductive, but it’s conductive enough to give static a path to the ground and reduce the strength of static shocks. Here’s an article that mentions it. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-07-29-ls-21275-story.html
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The Michelin Man is white because that is what tires used to look like and without carbon added. They changed the process to add carbon (I think) and this makes them more durable and black.
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