biodegradable car parts??

[timouse]

from the Globe and Mail...

FIVE QUESTIONS: PROFESSOR MOHINI SAINCars made of plants? It ain't sci-fiBy

MICHAEL VAUGHAN

Thursday, January 5, 2006 Page G2

Professor Mohini Sain in the University of Toronto's Faculty of Forestry

creates biocomposites from processed plant fibres. In five years, he says,

he would not be surprised to see these types of materials making up 20 to 25

per cent of a car.

Sain treats stalks of hemp, flax, wheat and corn with chemicals to break

down the bonds that hold clumps of fibres together. The plant material is

then combined with synthetic plastics.

However, if it is mixed with plastics made from soy beans or pulp and paper

sludge, then it can create tough biocomposites that are completely

biodegradable.

Using a combination of heat and pressure, the material is compressed into a

variety of shapes that can be as strong as steel.

Sain is the director of the Centre for Biocomposites and Biomaterials

Processing at U of T. He is a chemical engineer by profession who received

his doctorate degree in chemical engineering in 1989.

He has worked in industry and academia for more than 20 years, holds several

patents and has published more than 300 papers in journals.

Vaughan: The only wood-based material I can think of in my car is a

cardboard box in the trunk. What are you trying to make with natural fibres?

Sain: I am trying to make door panels, bumpers, console, dashboard,

underbody panel, load floor, running board, head liner and many more

components for cars, including interior and exterior applications.

In some cases, I am working on putting these lightweight new materials into

parts where currently engineered plastics, metals and glass fibre-reinforced

composites are used.

The ultimate goal is to get an economic solution with an environmentally

sustainable alternative for transportation, construction, building,

furniture, electronic and medical devices applications.

When I put natural fibre in, I take out glass fibre and synthetic plastics.

It reduces the consumption of crude oil.

Vaughan: Are there reasons besides reduced consumption of oil that makes

bio-based parts better than glass fibre and synthetic plastics in automotive

applications?

Sain: Biogenesis of natural fibre takes less energy for production compared

to that of synthetic fibre (such as glass); the same is true for synthetic

plastics.

As natural fibre replaces synthetic plastics, it consumes less energy for

production. It also results in less emission of greenhouse gas.

Finally, natural fibre products biodegrade more rapidly than synthetic

parts; hence they have less potential environmental waste disposal issues.

Natural fibre composites with thermoplastics are recyclable, too.

Vaughan: Does it matter what natural fibre you start with? In other words,

is there something particular about wood as opposed to straw or potatoes?

Sain: Both agricultural and wood fibres have potential; but the type of

fibre source does matter depending on the application.

Wood fibre is shorter and their application is limited to injection,

extrusion, blow moulding, and palletized compression moulding.

On the other hand, long fibre can be obtained from agricultural fibres such

as hemp, flax, wheat and kenaf.

These fibres are excellent for press moulding, resin transfer moulding, BMC

and SMC applications. They can be combined both with thermoplastics as well

as thermoset.

It is expected that these fibres will provide stronger materials compared to

that of the short fibres and, hence, these make them good for structural

materials (an underbody panel for example).

Vaughan: Are you changing these fibres at the molecular level? Is this a

nanotechnology play?

Sain: We have an active nanotechnology research program where scientists in

our group are attempting to design the fibres that particular applications

need.

For example, a program has been initiated to develop fibre than has less

lignin bonding between cellulose bundles.

In another very exciting area of nanotechnology, we are working on

developing commercially viable technology to obtain nano-cellulose fibres

from wood fibre, agro-fibre and root fibres (such as rutabaga).

We have already demonstrated the excellent performance of these fibres when

they are added in a plastic as reinforcement.

We are working toward developing a continuous process to make such

nano-fibre and then develop bio-nanocomposites by processing them in

conventional plastic processing equipment.

Vaughan: Apart from expanding knowledge, what's in it for the university to

be developing this technology? Are there any patents or royalties for the

university?

Sain: Yes, we have several U.S. and Canadian patent applications pending in

diverse areas and have more than seven disclosures in these areas. The

university has a share of each of these innovations.

But more importantly, we train people with cutting-edge technology.

These trained graduate students, engineers and other associates will provide

the needed expertise this rapidly growing industry needs. Our PhDs and

post-docs give our country the needed lead in this global academic training

field.

[Davey Boy 2.0]

cool

[Alexis]

this is awesome, thanks for posting

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

- nice to know people are working on this kind of thing on a daily basis.

I'm reminded of the M*A*S*H episode where Klinger commits himself to eating a Jeep.

[SmoothedShredder]

Ford has been using "biodigradeable" parts for years... that's why they always break down... atleast this is more like the Matrix... where the Architect designs it to acknowledge the flaws... it takes Zen and the Art of Motorcycle maintenance to the next level.

[hamilton]

I know of a company based in Thailand that makes disposable plates/cutlery/bags/etc out of tapioca. The products are fully biodegradable.

The company that I am working for is an extremely large multi-national, and I work with a guy who is trying to convert all of our locations into using these products instead of plastic. I hope it works.

[Lazlo]

What's wrong with a bread bowl? Tapioca's shit.