(413d) Light-weight Carbonaneous Biocomposites for Auto-parts uses

Sustainable light-weight biocomposites are the wave of the future in auto-industries for much needed fuel efficiency of the vehicles. In plastic composite uses, the key advantages of natural fibres over synthetic glass fibers and mineral fillers (talc and calcium carbonate) are their lower density, lower cost and their sustainable nature. Disadvantages of natural fibres for their use in auto-parts composites are: supply chain uncertainty, hydrophilicity and the odor and aesthetics of the finished products. Importantly, the instability of biofibre at higher temperatures limits their uses in engineering plastics (e.g. nylon, polybutylene terepththalate (PBT), etc.) based biocomposites. Traditionally, natural fibres are melt compounded with a variety of thermoplastics (e.g. polypropylene (PP), high density polyethylene (HDPE), poly(vinyl chloride) PVC), at around 180⁰C. Processing temperature of engineering plastics require >250⁰C. At these temperatures, natural fibres burn or degrade with burning smells. Conversion of biomass to biocarbon allows the effective use of bio-based filler in more challenging plastics, not suitable for biofibre composites. For their properties, carbonaceous biocomposites have attracted attention among academicians, scientists, and auto-makers in engineering novel biocomposite materials. A range of biocarbons can be made through pyrolysis of a variety of biomass sources, including waste biomass, municipality solid waste, and by-products from food industry and biofuel industry. In this modern era and with the circular economy concept waste valorization has attracted significant attention from several industrial sectors. This presentation will highlight the opportunities and challenges of injection moulded carbonaceous biocomposites in sustainable materials uses with focus on auto-parts.

Acknowledgements: The author would like to thank the following for their financial support: i) Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA)/University of Guelph – Bioeconomy for Industrial Uses Research Program (Project # 030332); ii) the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), Canada Discovery Grants Project # 400320 and 401111; iii) the Ontario Research Fund, Research Excellence Program; Round-7 (ORF-RE07) from the Ontario Ministry of Research, Innovation and Science (MRIS) (Project # 052644 and 052665).