Biocomposites Properties and Applications Bo Madsen and David Plackett Materials Research Department and Danish Polymer Centre Risø National Laboratory Denmark Contents About Risø National Laboratory About BICMP Plant fibres Biopolymers Biocomposites Applications More information
About Risø National Laboratory Risø is a Government Institute located in Roskilde, 30 km West of Copenhagen Annual budget: 67 M (500 MDKK) Employees: 650 About Risø National Laboratory Risø is organised in 8 research departments Biosystems Polymers Fuel Cells and Solid State Chemistry Radiation Materials Systems Analysis ptics and Plasma Wind Energy
About Risø National Laboratory Materials Research Department 4D Structures Composites and Materials Mechanics Nano and Microstructures Selected projects: (on European level) Ahmos II BICMP Euclid MgEngine UpWind About BICMP Title: New classes of engineering composite materials from renewable resources Period: Apr. 2005 Sep. 2008 (3½ years) Funding: EU 6 th Framework Programme, Integrated Project Budget: 6.7 M (Risø: 0.6 M ) Project coordinator: Fraunhofer Institute for Chemical Technology, Germany Partners: 24 bjectives: To develop new engineering biocomposite materials from natural resources where predominant issues are resource saving, light-weight, low costs and eco-effiency in all stages of the product cycle To obtain a breakthrough for SMEs on the development and use of engineering biocomposite materials
Plant fibres Type Plant fibres Example Cellulose content (%) Length (mm) Dimensions Diameter (µm) Length/diameter ratio Leave Sisal 50-65 - - - Bast emp / Flax 60-85 25-33 10-25 1000-1700 Seed Cotton 85-90 18 20 900 Stem Wheat 38-41 1-2 15 80 Wood Softwood 40-45 3-4 30-35 100 ardwood 40-50 1 20 50 Plant fibres - Structure Structure of bast plants (e.g. hemp and flax) emp plants Stem and leaves Stem cross-section Fibre bundles Shives Epidermis
Plant fibres - Structure Plant fibre Cell wall structure Cell wall layers Length: 1 40 mm Diameter: 10 30 µm Cell wall Lumen Cellulose microfibil Cellulose polymer (glucose monomers) Plant fibres - Processing arvesting Retting Fibre extraction Defibration Combing Drafting Spinning emp plant emp yarn emp plants
Plant fibres - Processing arvesting Retting Fibre extraction Defibration Combing Drafting Spinning emp plant emp yarn arvested hemp stems Plant fibres - Processing arvesting Retting Fibre extraction Defibration Combing Drafting Spinning emp plant emp yarn Defibration Water retting Fibre extraction Cross-section of fibre bundles
Plant fibres - Processing arvesting Retting Fibre extraction Defibration Combing Drafting Spinning emp plant emp yarn Combing and drafting Ring spinning Drafting rollers v 1 < v 2 < v 3 Fibre filament Gu ide Yarn Ring Traveller Bobbin Plant fibres - Processing arvesting Retting Fibre extraction Defibration Combing Drafting Spinning emp plant emp yarn emp yarn emp yarn structure
Plant fibres - Processing Cost of plant fibre pre-forms Fabric Weaving Carbon fibres Cost Yarn Glass fibres Spinning Non-wovens Needle-punching Unprocessed fibres Plant fibres - Properties Fibre type Density * (g/cm 3 ) Fibre density and mechanical properties Stiffness (GPa) Spec. stiffness (MN m/kg) Strength (MPa) emp 1.5 30-60 20-40 300-800 Flax 1.5 50-70 33-47 500-900 Jute 1.3 20-55 15-42 200-500 Sisal 1.3 9-22 7-17 100-800 Cotton 1.5-1.6 6-10 4-7 300-600 Softwood 1.2 10-50 8-42 100-170 Plant 1.5 60 40 800 Glass 2.6 70 27 2000 Carbon 1.8 800 444 2500 * Apparent density (i.e. including the fibre lumen)
Plant fibres - Properties Properties Plant fibres Synthetic fibres Technical Density Low Moderate Mechanical properties Moderate igh Moisture sensitivity igh Low Thermal sensitivity igh Low Environmental Production, energy Low igh Resource, sustainability Infinite Limited ealth aspects Good Moderate Recyclability Good Moderate Biopolymers Polymers extracted directly from biomass Polysaccharides (starch, cellulose, gums, chitosan) Proteins (casein, whey, soy, collagen, keratin) Lipids (triglycerides) Polymers synthesised from biomass-derived monomers Polylactide (PLA) Furfuryl alcohol Polymers produced by natural or GM microorganisms Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PA) Bacterial cellulose
Biopolymers Structure and Processing Polylactide (PLA) a thermoplastic biopolymer Enzyme hydrolysis Starch Glucose Fermentation Polymerization Polylactide (PLA) Lactic acid Biopolymers Structure and Processing Furan Resins Furfuryl alcohol a thermosetting biopolymer emicellulose Cellulose Lignin * Dehydration n * Biomass BAGASSE C Furfural (FF) ydrogenation ligomerisation Source: Transfuran Chemicals Belgium www.furan.com/tfc.html C 2 Furfuryl alcohol (FA) B orez
Biocomposites - Structure Laminate surface Biocomposite with random fibre orientation (Non-wowen plant fibre pre-form) Biocomposite with unidirectional fibre orientation (Plant fibre yarn pre-form) Laminate cross-section Biocomposites Processing and Properties Aligned hemp fibre/pet composites Textile hemp yarn Commingled filament-winding with thermoplastic yarn Composites (Tensile test specimens) Compression moulding Tensile properties of hemp fibre/pet composites with a fibre content of 48% by volume Loading direction 0 90 Stiffness (GPa) 28 3 Strength (MPa) 280 12
Biocomposites Processing and Properties Randomly oriented jute fibre/pla composites Non-woven jute mat Film-stacking of jute mat and PLA film Composites (tensile test specimen) Jute PLA Compression moulding Tensile properties of jute fibre/pla composites with a fibre content of about 40% by volume Stiffness: 9 GPa Strength: 100 MPa Applications Reasons for commercial interest in biocomposites Made from renewable resources (e.g. biomass) Potential reduction of material cost Potential recyclability as well as biodegradability Legislation
Applications EU end of life vehicle directive: 95% by weight of all vehicle component should be recyclable by 2015 Annual consumption of plant fibres in the automotive industry (in tonnes): Fibre types 1996 1999 2000 2001 2002 Flax 2.000 7.000 9.000 8.500 9.000 emp 0 300 1.200 1.600 2.200 thers 2.000 2.300 2.000 5.000 6.000 Total 4.000 9.600 12.200 15.100 17.200 Average amount of plant fibres per vehicle in 2002: 10-15 kg Applications Car components made of plant fibre based composite materials
Applications Fences and Decking Furniture Plant pots Future application: Wind energy turbines Applications Chair made from biocomposite materials fabricated at Risø National Laboratory (shown at a Designer Exhibition in Copenhagen)
More information BICMP, IP project, EU 6th framework programme: www.biocomp.eu.com Information portal on biocomposites: www.n-fibrebase.net Information portal on biopolymers: www.biopolymer.net Biodegradable Polymers for Industrial Applications Smith R., CRC Press, 2005. Green composites: Polymer composites and the Environment Baillie C., Woodhead Publishing, 2004. Natural fibres, Biopolymers and their composites Mohanty A. et al., Woodhead Publishing, 2005.