Rubber Durability Research Grant and Bio-Isoprene Prospects

Trelleborg Automotive, specialists in polymer-based acoustic solutions for the automotive industry, has been awarded funding by the French Government's Ministry of Research and Higher Education to research the durability of rubber-based car parts. This research could result in improvements in the durability of both synthetic and bio-sourced rubber, and therefore have a positive impact on its life-cycle.

The research project will investigate the correlation between fatigue cracks and the dispersal of carbon black particles within the isoprene polymer matrix. The project will involve the study of multi-phase materials and will examine the impact of the mixing, injection and mold design process on rubber durability. The four-year research programme will see Trelleborg work in partnership with ENSIETA, Engineering School in Brest, Lorient-based UBS University, the French Rubber and Plastics Laboratory, and Ecole Centrale de Nantes.

Trelleborg Automotive Research Manager, Pierre Charrier:
 "Improving the durability of parts and reducing whole life costs is a key concern for the automotive industry and our R&D team is continually developing new solutions to help the industry achieve these goals. The grant will enable us to dedicate significant resource to this project, which in addition to delivering material insights, could have real financial benefits for the automotive industry."

The four-year research programme will see Trelleborg work in partnership with ENSIETA, Engineering School in Brest, Lorient-based UBS University, the French Rubber and Plastics Laboratory, and Ecole Centrale de Nantes.

What could this research mean for the biopolymers sector?
In 2005 approximately 40% of all rubber sold was natural as opposed to petrochemical-derived and this percentage fluctuates with the price of oil. Synthetic rubber is produced by polymerizing isoprene, a byproduct of thermally cracking oil. With rising oil prices and depletion, natural rubber, both directly sourced and “bio-converted”, will play a greater role in the marketplace in future. This is already beginning to happen: bio- sourced isoprene has been used in a joint project between Goodyear and Genencor in production of a recent line of tires, with the aim of reducing their dependency of oil in the production process. Other companies are also targeting bio-based isoprene as a platform chemical (including GlycosBio at its new Malaysia biorefinery).  Natural, directly sourced rubber has the problem of being more variable in quality than synthetic rubber; it might even be considered unsuitable for some applications because of this.   (This provides an additional opening or value proposition for the incursion of bio-isoprene?)

The implications are that a longer product lifetime could directly benefit safety as well as sustainability and performance of these polymers in life cycle analysis. Many products (such as seals) made from rubber are used for safety or protective purposes, the failure of which can have damaging consequences not just to the user but to the supplier’s public image and even insurance risk rating. Added durability here could not only save users some replacement costs, but improve performance and give added peace of mind. An increase in the performance of rubber could also widen the applications in which bio-sourced rubber is used.