07/04/2026
Sabancı University continues to attract international attention with its work in the field of sustainable materials technologies. The latest achievement in this area was accomplished by Prof. Dr. Burcu Saner Okan, a faculty member at Sabancı University's Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences.
Prof. Dr. Burcu Saner Okan was awarded for her work, conducted in collaboration with Sefa Mandal, R&D Lead Engineer at Beko, and Dr. Leila Haghighi Poudeh, Senior R&D Chief Engineer. The study won first place in the "Innovation and Technology: Product Technology" category at the 3rd PAGÇEV Plastic Recycling Conference and Awards.
Prof. Dr. Burcu Saner Okan received the award at a ceremony held within the framework of the RePlast Eurasia Fair, organized by TÜYAP and the PAGÇEV Plastic Recycling Platform, between March 26 and 28, 2026. Within the scope of the project, waste tires were transformed into graphene nanoplates using advanced recycling technology, and these nanomaterials were combined with recycled engineering plastics.
Innovative Composite Developed with Graphene from Waste Tires
The developed product is defined as a washing machine pulley part based on recycled polyamide reinforced with graphene obtained from waste tires. This product, used in the pulley part of the Arçelik Neo washing machine, has entered mass production. The composite structure, produced using recycled polyamide obtained from industrial textile waste, long glass fiber, and graphene nanoplates derived from waste tires, was integrated into production without requiring changes to existing production lines.
