Bridgestone recently announced that the company has successfully developed a rubber composite combining low fuel consumption with high fracture strength. 　
　　The manufacturer’s efforts here fall under an initiative to develop ultrathin, strong, flexible and tough polymers as part of the Impulsing Paradigm Change through Disruptive Technologies (ImPACT) research and development program, which is in turn led by the Japanese Cabinet Office’s Council for Science, Technology and Innovation. 
　　Working toward this initiative, Bridgestone has used what is termed a “double network” structure to boost the strength of rubber materials. This structure was originally proposed as a technique for making tougher polymers by Jian Ping Gong of Hokkaido University, which is also a participant in the ImPACT program. 
　　While gel materials and the like have previously been used in successful tests to achieve dramatic increases to material strength, this had not to date been applied to rubber materials. But by now incorporating the double network structure into rubber, Bridgestone has managed to unite two characteristics that have previously been seen as mutually exclusive: increased strength and improved contributions to tire fuel efficiency. The rubber material developed by the company is as such a completely new one, increasing characteristics contributing to fuel efficiency by 15 percent, while also boosting strength by around five times.