{
  "abstract": "The accumulation of end-of-life tires poses a major environmental challenge because high-value recycling routes remain limited. This study investigated thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) composites containing crumb rubber (CR) using a 3 × 3 factorial design with particle sizes of 177–840 µm and CR contents of 10–25 wt%. Compared with neat TPU, CR increased stiffness and Shore A hardness, whereas higher loadings generally reduced yield stress, yield elongation, tear performance, and abrasion resistance. Among the 20 wt% CR formulations, TPU80-CR20-500 showed a balanced mechanical response: Young's modulus increased from 1.78 to 4.77 MPa (+168%) and Shore A hardness from 67.6 to 70.0 (+3.6%), while yield stress and elongation decreased from 14.54 to 4.92 MPa (−66.2%) and from 1234% to 587% (−52.4%), respectively. TPU90-CR10-840 exhibited the lowest abrasion loss among the composites and the highest durability factor (DF = 1.59). SEM qualitatively linked these differences to particle-size-dependent dispersion, interfacial defects, and particle debonding. Relative to conventional TPU-carbon black, the carbon footprint decreased from 6.59 to 5.28 kg CO2-eq kg−1 at 25 wt% CR, although durability losses limited the benefit of maximizing recycled content. TPU90-CR10-840 therefore achieved the highest durability-adjusted eco-efficiency (EEI = 0.261), whereas TPU80-CR20-500 offered higher recycled-rubber content with comparatively balanced mechanical performance. These results show that recycled content, performance, durability, and environmental impact should be considered jointly in circular TPU-CR design.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "aCentro de Investigaciones y Estudios de Ingeniería de los Recursos Hídricos & Departamento de Ingeniería Civil y Ambiental, Escuela Politécnica Nacional, Ladrón de Guevara E11-253, Quito 170525, Ecuador.",
    "bFacultad de Ingeniería Mecánica, Escuela Politécnica Nacional, Ladrón de Guevara E11-253, 170413, Quito, Ecuador.",
    "cGrupo de Biodiversidad Medio Ambiente y Salud, Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias Aplicadas, Universidad de Las Américas, Redondel del Ciclista Antigua Vía a Nayón, Quito, P.C. 170124, Ecuador.",
    "dGrupo de Investigación en Biomimética Amazónica y Nanotecnología (GIBAN), Universidad Regional Amazónica Ikiam, Vía Muyuna-Alto Tena km 7, Tena 150150, Napo, Ecuador."
  ],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 5,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Jorge Escobar-Ortiz",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-3862-1657"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Alex Chiguano"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Elvia Gallegos-Castro"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Cristina E. Almeida-Naranjo",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-1066-6661"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Luis-Miguel Quishpe"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/818qeyn5erya0.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1039/d6va00177g",
  "fulltext_url": "https://pubs.rsc.org/va/article-pdf/5/11/2628/13774955/d6va00177g.pdf",
  "id": "818qeyn5erya0",
  "issns": [
    "2754-7000"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.1039/d6va00177g",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "journal",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "lcc",
      "GE1-350"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2507|Polymer crystallization and properties"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7208715473",
  "pdf_url": "https://pubs.rsc.org/va/article-pdf/doi/10.1039/D6VA00177G/13758907/d6va00177g.pdf",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-09-01",
  "publisher": "The Royal Society of Chemistry",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/818qeyn5erya0.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-03T14:21:20Z",
      "native_id": "0c9a670e985d420c92a49af2c986df2c",
      "source": "doaj",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1039/d6va00177g"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "chemistry",
      "origin": "openalex:2507|Polymer crystallization and properties",
      "subfield": "materials-polymers"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Mechanical performance and eco-efficiency of thermoplastic polyurethane composites reinforced with recycled tire rubber",
  "title_text": "Mechanical performance and eco-efficiency of thermoplastic polyurethane composites reinforced with recycled tire rubber",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-04T14:20:20Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/818qeyn5erya0",
  "venue": "Environmental Science: Advances",
  "versions": []
}