Rechercher
"In France, we still have no oil, but we have plenty of ideas"
The famous advertising catch phrase of the 1970s still applies. In the race for road safety and sustainable development, automotive equipment manufacturers have the same objectives : reducing the weight of their vehicles and improving the durability of onboard materials while guaranteeing the same level of safety for passengers. For example, "green" tyres derived from silica technology must combine excellent wear resistance and a perfect grip (handling, braking), all within a more and more stringent regulatory context (new labelling of tyres to be implemented, with A to F grading according to their energy consumption).
To reduce the weight of vehicle parts, metal is gradually being replaced by polymer materials, which has led to a significant decrease in fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. Similarly, the rubbers used in the manufacture of certain tyres are the result of a mixture of rubber polymers and nanostructured particles of highly dispersible silica (HDS) that Rhodia (as pioneer) proposed as a replacement for carbon black particles. These materials are extremely resistant to wear and tear, whereas the polymer alone (pure rubber) is fragile.
For a long time, the physical origin of the mechanisms involved remained misunderstood, since the experimental approach was mostly based on empiricism. Over the past ten years, the work of chemists from Lyon on the dynamics of polymers at interfaces, in collaboration with their colleagues from Paris, has provided a physical explanation for these dramatic effects. The path to the production of nanostructured polymers with an improved balance of properties (rolling resistance, wear, grip) has now transformed into an avenue.
Laboratoire polymères et matériaux avancés, CNRS-Rhodia Chimie
Facebook
Twitter