{"id":14429,"date":"2026-04-13T17:18:32","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T15:18:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.haute-innovation.com\/uncategorized\/bisyka-synthetic-rubber\/"},"modified":"2026-04-13T17:18:34","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T15:18:34","slug":"bisyka-synthetic-rubber","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.haute-innovation.com\/en\/magazine\/sustainability\/bisyka-synthetic-rubber\/","title":{"rendered":"BISYKA synthetic rubber"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row row_height_percent=”0″ override_padding=”yes” h_padding=”2″ top_padding=”0″ bottom_padding=”4″ overlay_alpha=”50″ gutter_size=”3″ column_width_percent=”100″ shift_y=”0″ z_index=”0″ inverted_device_order=”yes”][vc_column column_width_percent=”100″ gutter_size=”3″ overlay_alpha=”50″ shift_x=”0″ shift_y=”0″ shift_y_down=”0″ z_index=”0″ medium_width=”4″ mobile_width=”0″ css_animation=”bottom-t-top” width=”7\/12″][vc_single_image media=”14391″ media_width_percent=”100″ el_class=”first-image” uncode_shortcode_id=”195578″][\/vc_column][vc_column column_width_percent=”100″ gutter_size=”2″ overlay_alpha=”50″ shift_x=”0″ shift_y=”0″ shift_y_down=”0″ z_index=”0″ medium_width=”4″ mobile_width=”0″ css_animation=”bottom-t-top” width=”5\/12″][vc_custom_heading text_color=”color-972040″ heading_semantic=”h1″ text_size=”h1″ el_class=”first-head” uncode_shortcode_id=”108521″ text_color_type=”uncode-palette”]BISYKA biomimetic synthetic rubber[\/vc_custom_heading][vc_custom_heading text_color=”color-972040″ text_weight=”400″ uncode_shortcode_id=”856013″ text_color_type=”uncode-palette”]Strain-induced crystallization in synthetic polymers[\/vc_custom_heading][vc_column_text uncode_shortcode_id=”111492″]20 March 2026[\/vc_column_text][uncode_share layout=”multiple” bigger=”yes” no_back=”yes”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_height_percent=”0″ override_padding=”yes” h_padding=”2″ top_padding=”2″ bottom_padding=”4″ overlay_alpha=”50″ gutter_size=”3″ column_width_percent=”100″ shift_y=”0″ z_index=”0″][vc_column column_width_percent=”100″ gutter_size=”3″ overlay_alpha=”50″ shift_x=”0″ shift_y=”0″ shift_y_down=”0″ z_index=”0″ medium_width=”0″ mobile_width=”0″ css_animation=”bottom-t-top” width=”7\/12″][vc_column_text text_lead=”yes” uncode_shortcode_id=”609121″]Synthetic rubber has been produced and continuously optimized since the beginning of the 20th century. Nevertheless, its mechanical properties cannot compete with those of natural rubber. A team of Fraunhofer researchers succeeded in identifying the reasons for this and successfully transferring them to synthetic rubber. At The Tire Cologne, Jens Hemmerle from Bisyka Innovation GmbH will present the material and its potential.<\/p>\n

Formation of nanocrystals during deformation<\/h3>\n

For over 100 years, the optimization of synthetic rubber has been the focus of global research and development activities. And yet, natural rubber still holds its own against its synthetic counterparts and surpasses them in significant mechanical properties. A key distinguishing feature of natural rubber is its strain-induced crystallization.<\/p>\n

When deformed, the polymer forms nanocrystals. This behavior prevents the propagation of microcracks and extends the material’s lifespan. “These tires lose 30 percent less mass than their natural rubber counterparts, and the tread loss is only half,” explains Dr. Ulrich Wendler, Head of Department at the Fraunhofer Pilot Plant Center for Polymer Synthesis PAZ, a joint facility of the Fraunhofer Institutes IAP and IMWS.<\/p>\n

As a first step, molecular biologists at the Fraunhofer IME in M\u00fcnster characterized the origin and composition of dandelion-derived natural rubber. Further analyses made it possible to elucidate the relationships between the individual components and the unique mechanical properties of dandelion rubber.<\/p>\n

The basis for strain-induced crystallization is the extremely high cis microstructure purity of the polyisoprene used. To achieve this, Fraunhofer IAP, in collaboration with a renowned catalyst manufacturer, tested various catalyst types and optimized the polymerization conditions. Finally, the BISYKA team added various components of natural rubber to the high-cis synthetic rubber and observed clear effects on its mechanical properties.<\/p>\n

“Our focus was on producing synthetic polyisoprene rubber with improved strain-induced crystallization, as this property has so far given natural rubber a unique position,” explains Prof. Dr. Mario Beiner, project manager and scientific director of the “Polymer Applications” business unit at Fraunhofer IMWS.<\/p>\n

In M\u00fcnster, a manufacturing process for the property-determining components from natural rubber was successfully established, enabling the production of larger quantities of biomimetic synthetic rubber and allowing for the production of prototypes.<\/p>\n

“By pooling the expertise in life sciences and engineering within the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, we have succeeded for the first time worldwide in transferring the unique biological properties of natural rubber to its technical counterpart, synthetic rubber,” emphasizes Prof. Dr. Dirk Pr\u00fcfer, head of the “Plant Biopolymers” site at the Fraunhofer IME in M\u00fcnster.<\/p>\n

The material innovation will be marketed by Bisyka Innovation GmbH in the future. We look forward to showcasing a demonstrator tire in our Innovation Lab at The Tire Cologne from June 9-11, 2026 at the Koelnmesse exhibition center.<\/p>\n

www.imws.fraunhofer.de<\/a>
www.bisyka-innovation.com<\/a>[\/vc_column_text][uncode_share layout=”multiple” bigger=”yes” no_back=”yes”][vc_column_text uncode_shortcode_id=”114950″]image: BISYKA tires made from biomimetic synthetic rubber can be produced on an industrial scale using existing equipment (credit: Fraunhofer IAP, photo: Till Budde)[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column column_width_percent=”100″ gutter_size=”3″ overlay_alpha=”50″ shift_x=”0″ shift_y=”0″ shift_y_down=”0″ z_index=”0″ medium_width=”0″ mobile_width=”0″ css_animation=”bottom-t-top” sticky=”yes” width=”5\/12″][vc_separator sep_color=”color-458992″ el_height=”3px”][uncode_block id=”100″ inside_column=”yes”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fraunhofer researchers have succeeded in transferring the mechanical quality of natural rubber for strain-induced crystallization to synthetic rubber and establishing manufacturing processes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":14390,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sustainability"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.haute-innovation.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.haute-innovation.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.haute-innovation.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.haute-innovation.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.haute-innovation.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14429"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.haute-innovation.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14429\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14432,"href":"https:\/\/www.haute-innovation.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14429\/revisions\/14432"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.haute-innovation.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14390"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.haute-innovation.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.haute-innovation.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.haute-innovation.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}