PROJECTS
SAFEVULCA Project Description
SAFEVULCA aims at reducing the amount of crystalline ZnO activator used in rubber curing processes, by replacing it with a novel activator, ZnO-NP@SiO2-NP, composed of ZnO nanoparticles anchored to silica fillers. Employing
ZnO-NP@SiO2-NP entails a reduction of 50% of the conventional amount of ZnO enabling to produce rubber composites for tires with mechanical properties up to 10% better than those obtained with the traditional activator. (Grant Agreement No 18145).
MONOLITHOS participation role
MONOLITHOS is the KIC industrial partner dealing with the industrialization of ZnO-NP@SiO2-NP. MONOLITHOS will deal with the up-scaling of the synthesis of ZnO-NP@SiO2-NP based on hydrolysis/condensation of Zn(CH3COO)2 in a solution of NaOH in the presence of SiO2 nanoparticles (ZnO loading 1-15 wt%) to the scale of tens of kg. Up-scaling procedure will consider the results and indication of the Fraunhofer activity which performs a pre-industrial upscaling and will use the industrial reactors, equipment and facilities of the company. The goal will be the production of batchs of 1-10 kg of catalyst for the scale-up the compounding and vulcanization process and of an amount of 75-100 kg of catalyst for the realization of the tyre prototype.
Collaborators
