Events Biobased Material of the Year Innovation Award – Top six candidates nominated For the eighth year running the Innovation Award Biobased Material of the Year will be awarded to the young, innovative biobased material industry, finding suitable applications and markets for biobased products. The competition focuses on new developments in these areas, which have had (or will have) a market launch in 2014 or 2015. The winners will be elected at the International Conference on Biobased Materials, 13 – 15 April 2015 in Cologne, Germany. This year, six biobased materials and products have been nominated for the Award by the advisory board – out of 24 submitted products. The nominated companies are from the United Kingdom, the United States and Germany. In a short 10-minute presentation, each of the six companies will introduce its innovation. The three winners will be elected by the participants of the conference and awarded with the prize, sponsored by Coperion GmbH, at the dinner buffet on April 14, 2015. The Top six candidates are: 1) Bayer MaterialScience (Germany): DESMODUR ® eco N – First biobased polyurethane crosslinker in the market for high performance automotive coatings: Polyisocyanate based on Pentamethylene Diisocyanate (PDI) The limiting factor for biobased polyurethanes has been the need for polyurethane crosslinkers based on renewable feedstock, since biobased polyols solutions already exist. Bayer MaterialScience has taken up this challenge and developed Desmodur eco N: a new solvent-free aliphatic polyisocyanate and the first polyurethane crosslinker on the market with a significant renewable content that has not come at the expense of performance. This crosslinker is based on a new isocyanate, pentamethylene diisocyanate (PDI), 70 percent of whose carbon content comes from biomass. Furthermore it is produced using energy-efficient gas-phase technology, to assure minimum impact on the carbon footprint. This product enables the production of biobased polyurethanes for high-performance automotive coatings. (see also article on p. 24) 2) EcoTechnilin Ltd (UK): FibriRock 100 % biosourced composite for aircraft applications comprising flax non-woven, basalt yarns and a sugar-based bioresin. Co-developed with TFC FibriRock: a lightweight biosourced fast-curing composite with excellent FST performance. Certified for use in an airline galley cart, FibriRock combines a Nomex-type core with skins formed from flax, basalt and a sugar-based bioresin. There are three reasons why FibriRock is so special in the field of aerospace composites: the skins, which represent 87 % of the material, are 100 % biosourced; the fast processing times (150 seconds) are quite exceptional in the field of aircraft composites where most sandwich-type materials need 40 and 70 minutes to cure; and the low heat release rate (15 kWmin/m 2 ) is only a third compared to competitive materials enabling clients to use much cheaper films and decorative finishes. Hence FibriRock is taking EcoTechnilin to new heights! 3) Evonik Industries (Germany): 100 % biobased high performance polyamide 12 based on palm kernel oil Thanks to its specific properties, polyamide 12 is the material of choice for a wide range of high performance products in numerous applications. Examples are sophisticated liner systems for motor vehicles, large-volume pipes, e. g., in the oil and gas industry, medical catheters, or injection-molded parts. The conventional production of PA 12 starts from petroleum based butadiene. This is transformed via multiple chemical process steps to the key monomer laurolactam. Now, the breakthrough alternative uses a one-step fermentation process starting from lauric acid methylester which is based on the renewable resource palm kernel oil. The 10 bioplastics MAGAZINE [02/15] Vol. 10
Events resulting monomer 12-aminolauric acid is processed via established polymerization and compounding steps to polyamide 12 products with the same outstanding properties as the conventionally produced ones. 4) HIB TRIM PART SOLUTIONS (Germany): Nature 50 – Natural fibre reinforced plastic (Hemp – PP) including a long fibre ratio > 50 % for injection moulding In the last years, many companies have developed natural fibre reinforced PP granulates – but the market success has been limited. HIB’s new Nature 50 granulate is a completely new development with unique properties. Long hemp fibres (> 50 %) are mixed with PP and additives in an innovative cold-press technology (no extruder). The granulate can then be extruded or injection moulded in serial moulding tools. The long hemp fibres give a unique design and a good Charpy impact property to the material – making it suitable for automotive parts. The weight reduction is between 18 and 20 % in substitution of serial plastic PC ABS GF20. Also impact strength, shrinkage and heat expansion show attractive properties. As a pure injection moulding part, Nature 50 shows an extraordinary appearance due to the long fibres, which can be varied by colouring. Therefore the material offers a wide range of design options for the automotive sector and other industries. 5) INVISTA S.a.r.l. (USA): LYCRA ® T 162R Fibre – spandex yarn made using renewable butanediol as raw material with a lower CO 2 and fossil fuel emissions footprint INVISTA, one of the world’s largest integrated producers of polymers and fibres, and owner of the LYCRA ® brand, has introduced the only commercial offering of a bioderived spandex available globally and for use in a wide variety of apparel fabrics and garments. Approximately 70 % by weight of the new T 162R Lycra bioderived spandex fibre comes from a renewable butanediol raw material source made from dextrose derived from corn. The use of a renewable feedstock in the making of this new Lycra bioderived fibre results in a lower CO 2 and fossil fuel emissions footprint than spandex produced using traditional raw materials. (see also article on p. 26) magnetic_148,5x105.ai 175.00 lpi 15.00° 75.00° 0.00° 45.00° 14.03.2009 10:13:31 Prozess CyanProzess MagentaProzess GelbProzess Schwarz 6) twoBEars (Germany): bioFila – High performance PLA blends with outstanding optic and haptic properties for 3D printing In 2009 the patent of Stratasys for 3D printing ended and opened the way for 3D printing for everybody. By now, a multitude of printing files can be freely downloaded from the internet. This, products do not travel around the world, but can be printed at home, offering a big potential for reducing global transport emissions. The market for 3D printing filaments is US$ 800 Mio. and is expected grow tenfold in the next 10 years. C With the new developments, also new M challenges appear: Y A lot of waste and CM prints with failures MY are produced by 3D CY printing. TwoBEars CMY has developed Pla- K Tec, a biodegradable 3D printing material made from renewable raw materials It is stronger than ABS, and with its softening temperature of 120 °C it’s rather easy to process. MT www.biowerkstoff-kongress.de/award – www.materialscience.bayer.com www.ecotechnilin.com – www.evonik.com – www.hib-solutions.com www.invista.com – http://two-bears.eu – www.nova-institute.eu Magnetic www.plasticker.com for Plastics • International Trade in Raw Materials, Machinery & Products Free of Charge • Daily News from the Industrial Sector and the Plastics Markets • Current Market Prices for Plastics. • Buyer’s Guide for Plastics & Additives, Machinery & Equipment, Subcontractors and Services. • Job Market for Specialists and Executive Staff in the Plastics Industry Up-to-date • Fast • Professional bioplastics MAGAZINE [02/15] Vol. 10 11
