Rubber tyres upcycled into multi-use aerogels

The new rubber aerogels are claimed to be extremely light, highly absorbent, very durable, and efficient at trapping heat and sound. A patent has been filed for the novel technology, which the team said promotes a wider use of scrap tyres and offers an eco-friendly way to recycle used rubber. The team’s findings have been detailed in Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects. 

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Around one billion highly durable and non-biodegradable tyres are scrapped globally per year, with 40 per cent of them recycled into low-value-added products. A further 49 per cent are incinerated to generate energy, and at least 11 per cent end up in landfills.

“The rate of recycling worldwide remains low because processing used rubber is costly and energy-intensive, coupled with a lack of monetary incentive. Our team has decided to focus on creating rubber aerogels from used rubber tyres because they are a cheap and abundant source of raw materials. By converting waste rubber tyres into high-value aerogels, we could enhance the monetary incentive for recycling rubber and in turn, cut down rubber waste,” said Associate Professor Duong Hai-Minh, who led the research team from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at NUS Faculty of Engineering.