Success Story

LOCATION

TX

Austin

TOTAL FUNDING

$2.8M

FUNDING AGENCIES

EPA

Environmental Protection Agency

DOE

Department of Energy

DoW - DHA

Department of War: Defense Health Agency

DoW - USSAF

Department of War: Air Force

Impact & Achievement

At the heart of nearly every vehicle on the road is a tire—a product long overdue for innovation. Molecular Rebar Design (MRD), based in Texas, is transforming tire technology with its breakthrough material: MOLECULAR REBAR® nanomaterials. With support from the Department of Energy's SBIR program, MRD has leveraged its proprietary carbon nanotube dispersion technology to reinvent rubber compounds used in tire tread, unlocking a new generation of lighter, stronger, and more energy-efficient tires.

Traditional carbon nanotubes are clumped into bundles, limiting their usefulness in composite materials. MRD’s innovation lies in separating these bundles into discrete, functionalized nanotubes that can be evenly distributed throughout rubber compounds. This subtle-sounding breakthrough has powerful implications: when integrated into tire tread, MOLECULAR REBAR significantly enhances performance—even at low concentrations.

With DOE Phase I and II SBIR funding, MRD partnered with Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company to formulate, manufacture, and test these advanced rubber compounds in actual tires. The result? Tires that are not only lighter but also meet all federal safety requirements, an essential milestone for real-world adoption. These early-phase achievements laid the groundwork for a next-generation version of the material, designed to reduce rolling resistance, extend tread life, and ultimately lower vehicle operating costs and environmental impact.

The SBIR-supported R&D has catalyzed far more than a single innovation. MRD’s success with Goodyear has attracted interest from other global tire manufacturers and even companies in adjacent sectors, such as athletic footwear. As a testament to the technology’s commercial promise, MRD has filed a patent and is preparing to publish its results in Rubber News, signaling industry-wide relevance and recognition.

Continued SBIR investment has helped the company expand into additional aerospace domains, including a mechanically locking nut plate for hypersonic vehicles, a locking hydraulic/fuel line connector for aircraft and rocket engines, and a locking electrical connector. Under a current Space Force Phase II award, Enduralock is developing a multifunctional satellite docking connector capable of mechanical linkage, data and power transfer, and fuel transfer in a single unit.

Encouraged by these advances, MRD is actively pursuing investment to expand its production capacity and accelerate market development. What began as a fundamental materials innovation has evolved into a platform technology poised to reshape how tires —and potentially many other rubber-based products—are made.

SBIR funding has been instrumental throughout this journey, enabling MRD to reduce risk, build key partnerships, and move from proof-of-concept to pre-commercial readiness. For MRD, the SBIR program did more than fund research—it provided a launchpad for industrial collaboration, technological validation, and long-term impact across multiple markets.

https://www.molecularrebar.com/