(157a) “Black a New Green” – Innovation in Sustainable Manufacturing

Waste biomass on pyrolysis creates pyrolyzed biocarbon (“Black a new green”) that finds exciting opportunities recently in sustainable manufacturing from high barrier packaging to light-weight automotive parts. The biocarbon (or biochar) is the solid carbonaceous material made through thermochemical conversion. This biocarbon material is mainly responsible for the characteristic dark colour and high carbon content of terra preta ("black soil", a.k.a. "Amazonian dark earth") found in the Amazon basin. This technique of using charred organic matter to improve the soil fertility originated at least 7000 years ago and has been hailed as a model for sustainable agriculture. Carbon allotropes have been recognized as the most versatile material in the modern science and technology (materials, energy and environmental remediation applications) due to their structural and morphological diversity influenced by the ability of carbon to form different hybridizations. Thus the discovery of biocarbon in materials uses is quite exciting and challenging. We have developed light-weight biocomposites from sustainable biocarbon filler and showed how these fillers can replace talc and short glass fibre in emerging light-weight injection moulded automotive parts. Advance biocarbon on reinforcement with recycled engineering plastic helps in reducing the flammability of the composites significantly that can be used in demanding electric vehicle (EV) parts. In another ground breaking discovery we showed how biocabon materials can act as oxygen scavenger in bioplastic in the design and engineering of high barrier packaging material for food packaging uses. This presentation will highlight innovation and commercialization of versatile biocarbon in materials applications from eco-friendly and light-weight parts including EV parts to high barrier plastic for sustainable packaging.