Oct 30 2012
IK4-CIDETEC is taking part in the European SHINE project for developing self-repairing materials for sectors such as transport, construction and renewable energy. The use of these self-repairing materials will increase the useful life of roads, expansion gaps, anti-vibration systems or materials for construction, for example, thus reducing the generation of waste and the risk of accidents.
Ibon Odriozola, in charge of the SHINE project at IK4-CIDETEC
The IK4-CIDETEC technological centre is taking part in a European consortium of technological bodies and companies, known as SHINE, the goal of which is to develop advanced materials with properties that enable them to repair themselves - to regenerate by themselves -, with results similar to the capacity of animals and plants for curing their own wounds. In short, the idea is to create ‘living’ materials capable of regenerating themselves without human intervention, thus giving rise to the possibility of constructing a new generation of roads, bridges, machinery, vehicles or wind-turbine towers.
Elastomers or “rubbers” are plastic materials with elastic properties which are involved in many industrial uses, for example, in bridge expansion joints, on roads, as absorbers of vibrations in railroads or as sealing elements in construction or industry.
It is common during the active service of these materials for them to suffer fatigue, abrasion and other forms of stress that can cause small fractures and, with time, result in a definitive break.
The need to repair these elements involves a series of difficulties, such as the continuous investment in maintenance and the generation of large amounts of waste when the materials are replaced - a serious problem given that current elastomers employed in industry are minimally recyclable or degradable.
The SHINE project is focused on the development of these new elastomers capable of totally or partially repairing their mechanical properties after having suffered breakage or wear and tear. Achieving this aim not only extends the useful life of the materials, but will also reduce the number of accidents caused by their degradation.
Within the project, IK4-CIDETEC will be responsible for the development of more durable elastomers aimed at the construction, transport and renewable energy sectors.
Elastomers are formed by flexible and elongated molecules which are united by chemical links, in such a way that the overall structure forms a three-dimensional network. The goal of the SHINE project is to substitute the conventional links by dynamic ones, which form and disintegrate as if they were alive. This special property, on which IK4-CIDETEC has been working for some time, is what gives elastomers their self-repair properties.