{"id":16950,"date":"2017-02-22T16:57:55","date_gmt":"2017-02-22T21:57:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/?p=16950"},"modified":"2021-05-22T16:27:13","modified_gmt":"2021-05-22T20:27:13","slug":"university-of-minnesota-research-team-green-tires","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/university-of-minnesota-research-team-green-tires\/","title":{"rendered":"Tires Made From Trees – UMN’s Green Breakthrough!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Research teams at universities across the country are working day and night to help our planet in any way that they can. A team from the University of Minnesota may have just stumbled upon a breakthrough, though. This team has engineered a way to create <\/span>automotive tires from trees and grass<\/span><\/a>. Such a breakthrough could be monumental for multiple industries. These resources are not just highly renewable, but they can be found right in our own backyards! This invention has the potential of not just changing a part of the automotive technology industry, but to completely revolutionize it. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFriendly\u201d tires is result of collaboration<\/b><\/span><\/h5>\n

Made from fossil fuels, the traditional tires used on vehicles across the globe are typically considered environmentally unfriendly because fossil fuels are not renewable. The new tires created by the University of Minnesota team, however, are good for the environment because they are created with a biomass containing grass and tree elements, not fossil fuels. They would have the same color and shape as their predecessors, as well as the same chemical makeup. The University of Minnesota has already obtained a patent for this new technology and has made it available for licensing through their office of technology communication.<\/span><\/p>\n

Paul Dauenhauer is associate professor of chemical engineering and material science at the University of Minnesota, as well as one of the project\u2019s leading researchers. According to Dauenhauer, the research done by his team \u201ccould have a major impact on the multi-billion dollar automobile tires industry.\u201d He adds that what his team had created was a new process for creating isoprene from \u201cnatural products such as trees, grass, and corn.\u201d Isoprene is the primary molecule used for car tire production. <\/span><\/p>\n

Carol Bessel, the deputy director of the chemical division at the National Science Foundation (NSF), had more to say on the subject. \u201cCollaboration was really the key to this research taking biomass all the way to isoprene\u201d she stated. \u201cThis collaboration and synergy among researchers with different approaches and skills is really what we are trying to promote within the NSF Centers for Chemical Innovation Program.\u201d The Center for Sustainable Polymers is funded by the NSF. <\/span><\/p>\n

Process of making \u201cfriendly\u201d tires<\/b><\/span><\/h5>\n

The current process for creating isoprene is known as \u201ccracking,\u201d as it involves the molecules found in petroleum being thermally broken up. The isoprene is then separated, purified and finally reacted with itself to form the solid polymer that is found in tires. Despite the popularity of biomass-derived products such as this, renewable isoprene has not been an easy molecule to generate from microbes, spiking the need for a better technology. <\/span><\/p>\n

Dauenhauer\u2019s team has produced the first successful attempt at creating an environmentally friendly isoprene. Their process focuses on the biomass-derived sugars found in natural elements, such as grass and trees, and includes the major steps. It begins with the microbial fermentation of these sugars, which leads to the creation of itaconic acid, an intermediate. The itaconic acid is then reacted with hydrogen to methyl-THF. \u00a0This chemical is reacted to isoprene. This highly efficient process proved that it is possible to renewably source isoprene from biomass. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The full research paper, entitled \u201cRenewable Isoprene by Sequential Hydrogenation of Itaconic Acid and Dehydra-Decyclization of 3-Methyl-Tetrahydrofuran,\u201d is available at the <\/span>ACS Catalysis website<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Other potential use<\/b><\/span><\/h5>\n

The ability to create an environmentally friendly isoprene is a scientific discovery that will likely prove beneficial to many other industries. As Dauenhauer\u2019s partner, Frank Bates, states: \u201cThis discovery could also impact many other technologically advanced rubber-based products.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Other projects<\/b><\/span><\/h5>\n

The University of Minnesota team is not the first to use plant-based elements to produce rubber. In 2015, two scientists from the Fraunhofer<\/span> Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology in Germany were successful in <\/span>replacing certain tire components with a substance from the <\/span>Russian dandelion<\/span><\/a> and manufacturer Continental tested a first version. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n