Dr. Avraam Isayev, a professor of polymer engineering at of the University of Akron, has with his student team developed a rubber processing technique, ultrasonic devulcanization, which is said to cause a major change in the way that rubber is reprocessed for industrial use. It took 15 years to develop this now patented technology, but now finally, everyday objects such as tires, shoe soles, and roofing materials can be recycled. Rubber, which before was very difficult if not impossible to recover due to its crosslinked, or vulcanized, nature, can now be reprocessed with Isayev’s technology, which breaks the sulfer crosslink bonds within the rubber compound, called devulcanization, allowing the substance to be reused. The National Science Foundation, Nike and NASA helped fund this study, which is now gaining attention and has recently won the 2011 Advanced Materials Innovation Award on February 24th. This technology will cause a huge shift in the way that scrap rubber is handled and may have a very important and beneficial impact on recycling as a whole in the future.
See: http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-02-revolutionizes-rubber-recycling.html
Posted By: Alex Egan
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