James Innes

I spent 4 years working on the £1m Low Carbon Manufacturing grant at the University of Bradford, recycling thermoset rubber and difficult to separate polymer blends. Previously, when completing my PhD at the University of Manchester within the National Graphene Institute, I worked on elastomers and nanofillers in order to solve industry specific problems.

I collaborate with a number of industrial and academic partners on elastomer recycling and will continue working on sustainable materials moving forward. The recycling of tyres as well as development of novel and printable thermoplastic vulcanizates are two specific areas of focus. My characterisation expertise covers mechanical testing, rheology, Raman spectroscopy, IR, SEM, AFM, chemical extraction amongst other techniques for classifying and measuring polymers including elastomers, semi-crystalline materials and rubber.

I recently developed a fellowship bid that seeks to enable the recycling of tyres into tyres, and another that focuses on recycling of other rubber products such as seals, hoses, and shoe soles. If you are interested in recycling rubber products, or understanding devulcanization and revulcanization, then please contact me.

Elastomers, Thermoplastic vulcanizates, Recycling, Circular Economy, Polymer nanocomposites, Devulcanization, Revulcanization