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Antioxidants are normally utilized to extend the service life of polymers due to the strong reducibility of the phenolic hydroxyl group of the hindered phenol structure. Inspired by this characteristic, we have introduced green tea polyphenol (TP) supported on a silica surface containing considerable phenolic hydroxyl groups to obtain a novel biomass anti-aging filler (BAF, denoted as silica-s-TP) to reinforce and improve the anti-aging property of rubber composites. The applying of silica-s-TP to enhance the thermal-oxidative stability and ultraviolet light (UV) aging resistance of styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) was evaluated. The hybrid biomass anti-aging filler could not only uniformly disperse in the rubber matrix, giving rise to the excellent mechanical properties, but also enhance the properties of thermal-oxidative stability and UV aging resistance with the increasing silica-s-TP content of SBR distinctly. This study provides a mild and environmentally friendly strategy to prepare the functional biomass filler, which could be applied as not only a reinforcement filler but also an anti-aging additive in "green rubber". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A solvent & coupling agent-free method with only one-step reaction was proposed to prepare silica-immobilized UV absorber (SiO 2 –531). • SiO 2 –531 could be homogeneously dispersed in the matrix of polybutylene adipate-co-terephthalate (PBAT). • SiO 2 –531 showed significantly improved migration resistance and thermal stability compared with free UV absorber. • PBAT/SiO 2 –531 composites showed even better anti-UV aging performance than PBAT/SiO 2 composites with twofold added free UV absorber. Prolonging the service life of polymer materials by enhancing their aging resistance is an effective and practical way to reduce the polymer waste. In this work, to improve the migration resistance and thermal stability of commercial UV absorber used in polymer composites, a solvent & coupling agent-free method with only one-step reaction was proposed to immobilize a commercial UV absorber 2‑hydroxy-4-(octyloxy)benzophenone (UV-531) onto the surface of silica nano particles (SiO 2). UV-531 was chemically bonded on the surface of SiO 2 with the loading weight of 12%. The as-prepared immobilized UV-531 (SiO 2 –531) could be homogeneously dispersed in the matrix of poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) and showed significantly improved migration resistance and thermal stability compared with free UV-531. For example, the initial decomposition temperature of SiO 2 –531 is about 200 °C higher than that of free UV-531. Therefore, PBAT/SiO 2 –531 composites showed even better anti-UV aging performance than PBAT/SiO 2 composites with twofold added free UV-531 during accelerated ultraviolet weathering and long-term natural climatic aging tests. For example, PBAT/SiO 2 –531 composites can maintain higher retentions of tensile strength and elongation at break than PBAT/SiO 2 composites with free UV-531 does after accelerated UV aging. Hopefully, the proposed facile method to enhance the anti-UV aging efficiency of commercial UV absorber may potentially uncover an extensive family of building blocks for constructing highly anti-aging plastic composites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]