RUBTEX - Sustainable optimization of adhesion between rubber and textile

Purpose and goal

The manufacture of textile-reinforced rubber products requires the use of the chemicals, resorcinol and formaldehyde, which are hazardous to health and the environment. The goal has been to find new concepts for reducing these chemicals while at the same time achieving a sufficient compared to the level of today´s adhesion. In the project, two different variants of more environmentally friendly concepts have been devised, which provide a level of adhesion in parity with chemicals used today and thus meet the end users´ high demands.

Expected results and effects

Due to the excellent outcome of the project, an implementation plan has been developed for the commercialization of the concept. It includes validation and quality assurance of both the process and of the products that consist of the combination of rubber and textile studied in the project. It also contains proposals for continued work with other rubber varieties in combination with different textile materials.

Planned approach and implementation

The project possessed three stages: lab scale, prototyping and full-scale experiments. The advantageous set-up of the project delimited the stages regarding time and distribution of other resources. Lab scale work for fine tuning was also performed during prototyping before starting stage 3, in order to attain the project objective in a resource efficient manner. During the implementation, we have had short reconciliations and larger final meetings after each stage, which provided the opportunity for reflection and exchange of experiences and facilitated project planning.