Vulcanisable elastomeric materials for components of tyres comprising modified silicate fibres, and tyres thereof

Vulcanisable elastomeric composition for components of tyres comprising at least:

• (a) 100 phr of at least one diene elastomeric polymer,
• (b) from 1 to 80 phr of acid-modified silicate fibres obtained according to a process comprising:
• providing silicate fibres with needle-shaped morphology of nanometric size comprising magnesium ions,
• suspending said fibres in a liquid medium,
• adding at least one acid compound to the suspension,
• allowing the reaction, up to extracting from 10% to 70% by weight of magnesium ions from the fibres with respect to the total weight of magnesium originally contained in the fibres, substantially preserving their crystalline structure and needle-shaped morphology, and
• separating the fibres thus acid-modified from the liquid medium,
• the acid-modified fibres having nanometric size with substantially preserved needle-shaped morphology, and comprising after modification from 3.8% to 12% by weight of magnesium with respect to the weight of the fibres themselves (measured via X-ray fluorescence—XRF);
• (c) from 0 to 120 phr of a standard reinforcement filler;
• (d) from 0.1 to 15 phr of a vulcanising agent, and
• (e) from 0 to 20 phr of a coupling agent.