{"id":169884,"date":"2025-06-03T15:24:05","date_gmt":"2025-06-03T21:24:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/?p=169884"},"modified":"2025-08-28T15:23:04","modified_gmt":"2025-08-28T21:23:04","slug":"butadiene-rubber-recycled","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/industrial-transformation\/butadiene-rubber-recycled\/","title":{"rendered":"The Science Behind Butadiene Rubber That Couldn’t Be Recycled… Until Now"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A team of researchers from Tecnol\u00f3gico de Monterrey Campus Quer\u00e9taro<\/a> has developed a process that could revolutionize one of the world’s most persistent waste problems. Their target: butadiene rubber, a synthetic material as ubiquitous as it is problematic globally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cecilia Trevi\u00f1o-Quintanilla<\/a>, a chemical researcher at the Institute of Advanced Materials for Sustainable Manufacturing<\/a> who was part of the team, explains how this material is the most common rubber used in industry: “In hoses, in seals, shoe soles, latex gloves, in cow milking teats.” The problem isn’t its use but its disposal. <\/strong>“It takes millions of years to degrade and isn’t used for absolutely anything,” says Trevi\u00f1o-Quintanilla.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The problem lies in the molecular structure of butadiene rubber itself. Unlike many materials that can be melted and reformed, this synthetic elastomer has cross-linked molecules that resist recycling. “When you apply heat, the molecules don’t relax,” explains Trevi\u00f1o-Quintanilla. “There’s simply no way to break them down using traditional methods.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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