Sustainable manufacturing of circular economy elastomer products

循环经济弹性体产品的可持续制造

• 批准号: EP/W018977/1
• 负责人: Biqiong Chen
• 金额: $ 158.94万
• 依托单位: Queen's University Belfast
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2022 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=EP%2FW018977%2F1
• 关键词: Sustainable; manufacturing; circular; economy; elastomer

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.

橡胶产品的可持续性是一个重大的全球挑战，主要是因为每年产生大量的橡胶废物。此外，许多弹性体产品，包括大多数汽车轮胎，都是由化石燃料材料制造的，这些材料是不可再生的。这一拟议的研究方案旨在通过利用可再生生物原料制造新型循环经济弹性体产品来应对这些挑战，这些产品零浪费、资源效率高、不依赖化石燃料，从而改变了弹性体领域。将生产两种不同用途的弹性体产品，即可自我修复的天然橡胶产品，在损坏后可重复修复，并在使用寿命结束后可重新使用、再加工和回收；生物基热塑性弹性体产品，由于其热塑性性质，可再加工和回收。将准备新的弹性体并对其进行表征，然后使用最佳的弹性体和弹性体复合材料以及制造工艺对具有代表性的弹性体产品进行工艺优化、制造和评估。随后，将评估新弹性体产品的自我修复、再利用、再加工和回收行为。最后，对产品生命周期的能耗和碳排放、产品成本以及新产品对整个供应链的影响进行评估。一个由橡胶和聚合物科学家、制造工程师以及一名管理科学家组成的跨学科团队将共同致力于该项目，采用从材料设计和合成到产品制造再到自我修复、再利用和回收的整体方法。在该方案结束时，创新的基于生物的循环经济弹性体产品将以可持续的方式生产，并了解其基础科学和更广泛的影响。从这项研究中获得的可持续材料、制造技术和科学认识，可以在未来推广到其他弹性体产品，确保弹性体产品和行业的长期可持续性。