Abstract

The bioHEAL project is part of the i-LINK+ Programme from the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) that aims to stimulate the collaboration between CSIC research groups and international research groups of the highest relevance by means of its own resources with a common research topic and complementary strengths. All this within the scope of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations (UN-SDG). The purpose of i-LINK+ is the creation and consolidation of consortia of international excellence to compete in future calls for research and innovation (R&D) projects in the international arena, as well as the internationalization of International Thematic Platforms (PTI), a mixed (public-private) R&D instrument that brings together research teams, administrations and companies that join forces to solve specific problems. The objective of bioHEAL is to develop ad-hoc self-healing rubber biocomposites reinforced with natural fillers (bio-based and renewable). bioHEAL will count with the participation of the Institute of Polymer Science and Technology (ICTP-CSIC, Spain), which lead the project, Gdnask University of Technology (GUT, Poland), Chalmers University of Technology (CUT, Sweden), Vrije University of Brussel (VUB, Belgium) and the Unversity of Wisconsin-Madison (UWM, United States of America). With this collaboration we will contribute to UN-SDG12 through the promotion of strategies for sustainable consumption and efficient use of resources, such as reducing waste generation thanks to the implementation of a key property for the future of smart materials: self-healing.