This has huge implications. They were able to cut into a sheet and not only does it not tear but it still supports weight. This basically removes entirely one of the biggest downsides to rubber when selecting substrates for any number of applications.
Thanks for sharing
They only seem to have made a thin film though, can this be produced in bulk?
I wonder what the implications for tires are? Apparently modern tires about 1/3 natural rubber. Presumably if they could be made of close to 100% natural rubber, it would mean less microplastic entering the environment from tire wear. On the other hand, you'd need about 3x as much natural rubber production as we have now, which might not be realistic.
The wear characteristics would come into play too, though. If pure rubber tires wear out faster than mostly-synthetic rubber tires, then you'd need even more natural rubber. On the other hand, if it wears much more slowly than typical modern tires, then maybe current rubber production is sufficient.
(EVs are also prone to somewhat faster tire wear due to additional weight.)
> it would mean less microplastic
The term plastic is so vague and overloaded now that it won't. Is an elastomer a plastic? Depends on who you ask. Does a plastic have to be derived from petroleum? Depends on who you ask.
I think it must be much faster tire wear counted in pounds, because the EV tires are also larger.