Fingerprinting tyre emissions - characterising their chemical composition

With the planned roll-out of electric vehicles, tyres, and their associated emissions, are potentially becoming the biggest source of pollution from motor vehicles, but these emissions are poorly understood. There is currently no standardised regulatory method for measuring the wear rates, the chemical composition of the abraded material or the ultimate toxicological effect on humans and the wider environment. This project aims to start addressing, and develop measurement methods for, the second unresolved part of this chain - measuring and characterising the chemical compounds in tyre wear, as it is created from vehicles in real-world operation.

To achieve this, it is necessary not just to identify and quantify the wide range of compounds and elements in tyres, but also to understand the accuracy and repeatability of the measurements. If successful, it opens up the opportunity to be able to understand the environmental effects - encompassing air, water and soil - to a much greater extent than currently. This is important as tyres have been identified as one of the largest sources of microplastics in the ocean. As driving safety cannot be compromised by reducing grip, the best way to address this problem may be to change the composition of the tyre material rather than the rate of wear. As the light-duty vehicle fleet shifts to electrified cars and vans, average vehicle weight is set to increase significantly, which is likely to result in higher wear.

Leveraging Emissions Analytics' existing capability to measure the organic constituents of tyre wear, the project will expand that to cover inorganic components and understanding measurement uncertainties. By addressing a measurement challenge, there is the potential to unlock private sector value together with public value in addressing current and pre-empting future environmental challenges.