Sustainable manufacturing of circular economy elastomer products

Completed

Not Energy Related
Energy Efficiency(Industry)

Basic and strategic applied research

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (Mechanical, Aeronautical and Manufacturing Engineering)

Not Cross-cutting

Professor B Chen
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Queen's University Belfast

Standard

EPSRC

18 July 2022

12 October 2025

39 months

£1,247,406

Mechanical engineering

Northern Ireland

Manufacturing : Manufacturing

Professor B Chen, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Queen's University Belfast

Professor J Busfield, Engineering and Materials Science, Queen Mary University of London
Dr E Cunningham, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Queen's University Belfast
Dr PJ Martin, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Queen's University Belfast
Professor T Peijs, Engineering and Materials Science, Queen Mary University of London
Professor M Zhang, Queen's Management School, Queen's University Belfast

Project Contact, Smiley Monroe Ltd
Project Contact, The Weir Group plc
Project Contact, Croda International Plc
Project Contact, Aditya Birla Group
Project Contact, Colorite Europe Ltd

The sustainability of rubber products is a major global challenge mainly due to the huge amount of rubber waste generated each year. Furthermore, many elastomer products including most car tyres are manufactured from fossil fuel-based materials, which are not renewable. This proposed research programme aims to tackle these challenges by manufacturing novel circular economy elastomer products from renewable biobased feedstocks, with zero waste, high resource efficiency and no reliance on fossil fuels, thus transforming the elastomer field. Two types of elastomer products will be manufactured for various applications, namely self-healing natural rubber products which can self-repair repeatedly after damage, and be reused, reprocessed and recycled after their end of life; and biobased thermoplastic elastomer products which can be reprocessed and recycled due to their thermoplastic nature. The new elastomers will be prepared and characterised, followed by the process optimisation, manufacture and evaluation of representative elastomer products using the optimal elastomers and elastomer composites as well as manufacturing processes. Subsequently, the self-repair, reuse, reprocessing and recycling behaviour of the new elastomer products will be assessed. Finally, the energy consumption and carbon emissions of the product lifecycle, product costs and the impact of the new products on the whole supply chain will be assessed. An interdisciplinary team of rubber and polymer scientists and manufacturing engineers, as well as a management scientist, will work on the programme together employing a holistic approach ranging from material design and synthesis, through to product manufacturing and finally self-repair, reuse and recycling. At the end of the programme, innovative biobased circular economy elastomer products will have been sustainably manufactured with their fundamental science and broader impact understood. The sustainable materials, manufacturing technologies, and the scientific understanding obtained from this research can be extended to other elastomer products in the future, ensuring the long-lasting sustainability of elastomer products and industry.

03/08/22