Patent ID: 7425584

Claim:
A process for the devulcanization of rubber comprising the steps of: a) contacting vulcanized rubber with a rubber-swelling solvent capable of swelling the rubber to form solvent-swollen vulcanized rubber; b) heating the solvent-swollen vulcanized rubber in the presence of a hydrogen source to initiate a devulcanzation reaction; and, c) allowing the devulcanization reaction to proceed for a time sufficient to effectively devulcanize the vulcanized rubber wherein step a) includes contacting vulcanized rubber with a hydrogenation catalyst precursor dissolved in the rubber-swelling solvent to form solvent-swollen vulcanized rubber containing the hydrogenation catalyst precursor; and step b) includes heating the solvent-swollen vulcanized rubber to convert the catalyst precursor to an active catalyst in the presence of the hydrogen source to initiate the devulcanzation reaction.