Taking green building to a whole new level

Researchers in Australia have discovered a way to take green building to a whole new level. They’ve found a new kind of rubber polymer made from sulfur and canola oil that can be compressed and heated with fillers to create construction materials. The fillers could be recycled PVC, organic waste, even sand to create bricks of the future.

Their work, published in the Young Chemist issue of “Chemistry — A European Journal,” was featured this year in Science Daily. In it, researchers said the polymer can potentially be used as tubing, rubber coatings or bumpers, or compressed, heated and mixed with other fillers to form entirely new composites, such as insulation or concrete replacement that can be used in green buildings.

The Science Daily article noted the latter is significant because cement is a finite resource that contributes more than 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Plus, scientists have been looking for new ways to recycle PVC and carbon fiber.

Read the complete Science Daily article here and the Chemistry article here.

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