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A team from the e-PLASCOM and eb-POLICOM research groups, alongside the Barcelona Research Center in Multiscale Science and Engineering (CCEM) at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya - BarcelonaTech (UPC), is involved in the EcoPolyRub project in partnership with the Centre Català del Plàstic (CCP). The initiative aims to create innovative elastomeric materials based on recycled tyre rubber, enhanced recycled plastics, and natural rubber for high-performance mechanical and thermal applications.
The growing demand for sustainable materials and energy-efficient technologies has accelerated the research for alternatives to conventional plastics, rubbers, and refrigeration systems. In this context, the EcoPolyRub project (Blends with High Mechanical Performance from Eco-Polymers and Rubber Wastes) focuses on the development of new elastomeric materials based on recycled tyre rubber, modified recycled plastics, and natural rubber for advanced mechanical and thermal applications.
The project aims to transform rubber and plastic waste into high added-value materials with improved durability, flexibility, and functional properties. Ground tire rubber particles obtained from end-of-life tires are incorporated into natural rubber matrices to create more sustainable compounds while reducing the environmental impact associated with rubber disposal. These recycled particles not only contribute to circular economy strategies, but can also reinforce the rubber matrix and modify its mechanical behavior under deformation.
In parallel, EcoPolyRub explores the incorporation of modified recycled plastics, such as recycled PET and PLA-based materials, into rubber matrices. These recycled plastic phases are expected to act as reinforcing fillers, similarly to ground tyre rubber. The objective is to improve the mechanical resistance and durability of the materials, while opening up new possibilities for combining flexibility, toughness and lightweight properties in a single system.
One of the lines of the project is the study of the elastocaloric effect in rubber materials. Elastocaloric materials are capable of generating heating and cooling effects when stretched and released. This phenomenon can be exploited in solid-state refrigeration technologies, offering a potential alternative to conventional cooling systems based on refrigerant gases and vapor-compression cycles. Natural rubber is especially promising for this application because of its ability to crystallize during deformation, a phenomenon that strongly influences both its thermal and mechanical response.
The project also investigates the fracture and fatigue behavior of these materials under repeated mechanical loading. Using advanced infrared thermography and mechanical characterization techniques, the research analyzes how cracks initiate and propagate in rubber materials and how deformation-induced thermal effects can help to better understand their long-term durability and performance.
By combining recycled materials, sustainable rubber sources, and innovative thermal functionalities, EcoPolyRub aims to develop a new generation of durable and energy-efficient elastomeric materials for future domestic, industrial, and transport applications, contributing both to circular economy strategies and to the development of environmentally friendly cooling technologies.
Budget and Funding
The project is developed in collaboration with the Centre Català del Plàstic (CCP), and runs from September 2024 to December 2027. It has received a total budget of €162,500.
Related Projects
- A team from the Matrix Analysis and Discrete Potential Theory (MAPTHE) research group at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya - BarcelonaTech (UPC), and the Department of Mathematics at CUNEF Universidad in Madrid, have participated in the development of MARIA, a prototype of a portable, flexible and radiation-free device designed to improve the early detection of breast cancer. The device can identify tumours through electrical conductivity, with the aim of enabling its future use in primary care settings.
- The Research Group in Smart and Sustainable Resources and Industries (RIIS) at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya - BarcelonaTech (UPC) is developing the ZeroCarbonPave project, which aims to assess the feasibility of incorporating biochar as filler and/or as the fine fraction of granular material in bituminous mixtures, with the objective of reducing the carbon footprint associated with the manufacture and laying of road pavements.
- The Center for Industrial Equipment Design (CDEI-UPC) at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya - BarcelonaTech (UPC) is participating in a cross-border project aimed at promoting the use of advanced digital technologies in viticulture in regions on both sides of the Pyrenees. The initiative seeks to improve specialist training, technical advice and decision-making in vineyard management.
- The Centre for Industrial Equipment Design (CDEI) at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya - BarcelonaTech (UPC), together with the IRI, Institut de Robòtica i Informàtica Industrial (CSIC-UPC), is participating in the development of a pre-commercial prototype of an automatic portable sawmill that integrates computer vision, artificial intelligence and computer numerical control to improve productivity, efficiency and safety in local wood processing for the company Envall Coop. S.L.
