Natural rubber process boosts tire toughness about tenfold while preserving stiffness

Natural rubber, tapped from trees as latex, is the world's most widely used bio-elastomer. Comprising long molecular chains that make it pliable and stretchy yet highly resistant to cracking and strain, natural rubber is foundational to countless products, including the heavy-duty tires in trucks, buses, and airplanes. But to make rubber products that can withstand those demanding applications, large machines must mix in reinforcing particles, usually carbon black or silica, that chew up the rubber's long polymer chains and effectively sacrifice many of the natural material's most exceptional properties, from elasticity to cold resistance. The result is a tire that's sufficiently stiff, yet prone to wearing and cracking, which produces polluting dust as it wears and decreases its lifespan.

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