Article by AIMPLAS
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You can read the English translation of the article below, or if you're fluent in Spanish, check out the original article here.
Multifunctional and lightweight biocomposites made of carbon fibre-reinforced plastic reduce the structural weight of vehicles.
The FOREST project, coordinated by AIMPLAS, aims to obtain new and innovative biocomposites for sustainable and safe applications in the transport sector.
The FOREST project, coordinated by AIMPLAS, aims to obtain new and innovative biocomposites for sustainable and safe applications in the transport sector.
The project will focus on reducing the structural weight of vehicles through the use of lightweight multifunctional components made of carbon fibre-reinforced plastic and on new and efficient methods to recover 100% of carbon fibre waste for material development. high-quality semi-finished.
Valencia (July 3, 2023) – AIMPLAS, Technological Institute of Plastics, coordinates the FOREST project, funded by the European Union, whose objective is to obtain advanced lightweight materials of natural or recycled origin to help decarbonise the sector of transport. The project consortium is made up of fourteen partners from eight countries, who will develop innovative polymers and additives of natural origin and recycled carbon fibre for sustainable and safe applications in the transport sector.
The FOREST project will end in May 2026 and is aligned with the European Union's climate and energy challenges for 2030. FOREST will reduce the structural weight of vehicles through the use of lightweight components made of carbon fibre-reinforced plastic. In this way, less fuel will be used and energy consumption will be lower to travel the same distances. This will be achieved thanks to the development of new multifunctional and lightweight biocomposites as an alternative to conventional composites.
Said biocomposites will be obtained through the use of "one-shot" manufacturing techniques, which will include non-autoclave manufacturing processes to manufacture and evaluate prototypes with improved multifunctional properties (mechanical resistance, flame retardant or electromagnetic shielding) for application in the transport sector.
In addition, new synthesis processes based on the principles of green chemistry will be developed with the aim of obtaining polymers and additives with a high content of raw materials from renewable sources. In this sense, the dependence on fossil sources will be reduced. FOREST will also focus on efficient methods to recover 100% carbon fibre waste to develop high-quality semi-finished materials for application in the transportation sector. Finally, the consortium will investigate the influence of multifunctional properties in biocomposites. Thus, the project will combine natural, recycled and multifunctional materials to obtain solutions for the bus, aeronautical and automotive sectors.
• More than 50% sustainable materials in light products
This project is committed to effective circularity solutions applied to multifunctional biocomposites with more than 50% content of sustainable materials.
FOREST is funded by the European Union's Horizon Europe research and innovation program and includes partners from countries such as Spain, France, Germany, Turkey, Italy, Poland, the Czech Republic and England, who are working together towards the decarbonisation of mobility. The partners are AIMPLAS, Arkema, BASF, Clariant, IFAM Fraunhofer, IRT Jules Verne, MBHA, Mercedes Benz, AIRBUS Atlantic Composites, CRF, Angaz Tech, Fenix TNT and Bitrez and Gen2 Carbon.
• About AIMPLAS
At AIMPLAS we help companies apply the Circular Economy to their business model to convert the legislative changes that affect the plastics industry into opportunities to improve their efficiency, reduce their environmental impact and increase their economic profitability. To do this, we work and research in areas such as recycling, biodegradable materials and products, and the use of biomass and CO2, with the aim of developing innovative solutions that help solve current environmental challenges.