More durable tires may result from an MIT discovery that makes plastic break the right way, absorb impacts at 750 meters per second, and reduce wear related to microplastics.

Written by Fabio Lucas Carvalho

Published on 03/06/2026 at 15:28

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Study published in Nature shows that MIT researchers managed to increase the resistance of polymers by inserting sacrificial chemical bonds, a strategy that dissipated supersonic impacts in laboratory tests and may guide new applications in electronic covers, soles, industrial materials, and tires less prone to wear.

Tires may gain a new generation of more durable rubbers from an MIT discovery published on June 3 in Nature: common polymers became more resistant when designed to break at specific chemical points.

The research stems from an everyday problem. Cell phone drops, collisions with rigid objects, and skids on highways concentrate energy in small areas. In tires, this type of stress can release tiny rubber fragments into the air.

How researchers made plastic more resistant

The team worked with weakened chemical bonds, called mechanophores. They were distributed in polymers to act as sacrificial points. When a crack begins to advance, these bonds break first and divert part of the energy.

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Test simulated impacts at supersonic speed

To measure the effect, the researchers used the Laser-Induced Projectile Impact Test, known by the acronym LIPIT. The system launched small silica spheres against thin films of modified plastic.

The microspheres hit the materials at 750 meters per second, a speed exceeding 1,600 miles per hour. Under these conditions, common polystyrene shattered or was easily pierced.

The mechanophore-crosslinked polystyrene absorbed more impact energy than standard polystyrene. During the impact, researchers observed local heating of the material and the formation of a “mobile zone”.

In this zone, the mechanophore bonds break selectively due to the force. The destructive energy is then consumed in this controlled breakage, instead of passing through the material and causing larger failures.

Keith Nelson, senior author of the study, explained that the method allowed extracting information from the velocities of the particles before and after penetration in thin layers, as well as revealing deformation patterns during and after the impact.

Tires are among the applications under study

After the tests with polystyrene, the team replicated the effect in styrene-butadiene-styrene rubber, known as SBS. This material is used in shoe soles, asphalt, and roofing.

Now, researchers are exploring the application of the strategy in styrene-butadiene rubber for vehicle tires. The possibility is interesting because tire wear accounts for at least 10% of microplastics in the world.

If the technology advances, more resistant tires could suffer less wear and have a lower risk of blowouts. The same principle can also be applied to protective covers for electronics and plastic objects exposed to impact.

The next step will be to verify if the behavior observed in thin films can be reproduced in larger formulations, compatible with industrial uses and continuous performance safety requirements.

It is still a developing line of research, tested in the laboratory with thin films and microprojectiles. However, the advancement shows an alternative to the traditional search for merely harder plastics.

Instead of trying to prevent any breakage, MIT demonstrated that selective breakage can be part of the solution. For tires and other polymers, resistance may depend precisely on knowing where the material should yield.

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More durable tires may result from an MIT discovery that makes plastic break the right way, absorb impacts at 750 meters per second, and reduce wear related to microplastics.

How researchers made plastic more resistant

Test simulated impacts at supersonic speed

Tires are among the applications under study

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More durable tires may result from an MIT discovery that makes plastic break the right way, absorb impacts at 750 meters per second, and reduce wear related to microplastics.

How researchers made plastic more resistant

Test simulated impacts at supersonic speed

Tires are among the applications under study

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China transforms desert-devastated area into the world’s largest artificial forest, planting trees for 60 years, blocking sand that reached Beijing, and creating a “green lung” of 92,000 hectares in a region once considered lost.

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