New Method to Produce Graphene Fibers with Optimized Conductivity & Strength

A team of researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has developed a new microfluidics-assisted technique for developing high-performance macroscopic graphene fibers. Graphene fiber, a recently discovered member of the carbon fiber family, has potential applications in diverse technological areas, from:

• Energy storage 
• Electronics and optics 
• Electro-magnetics 
• Thermal conductor and thermal management
• Structural applications

Their findings are published in a newly released issue of Nature Nanotechnology. It has historically been difficult to simultaneously optimize both the thermal/electrical and the mechanical properties of graphene fibers. However, the Rensselaer team has demonstrated their ability to do both.

High Thermal, Electrical & Mechanical Properties

Macroscopic graphene fibers can be manufactured by fluidics-enabled assembly from 2D graphene oxide sheets dispersed in aqueous solutions forming lyotropic liquid crystal. 

• Strong shape and size confinements are demonstrated for fine control of the graphene sheet alignment and orientation, critical for realizing graphene fibers with high thermal, electrical, and mechanical properties. 
• This microfluidics-enabled assembly method also provides the flexibility to tailor the microstructures of the graphene fibers by controlling flow patterns.

“The control of different flow patterns offers a unique opportunity and flexibility in tailoring macroscopic graphene structures from perfectly aligned graphene fibers and tubes to 3D open architecture with vertically aligned graphene sheet arrangement,” said Jie Lian, a professor in the Rensselaer Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering (MANE) and the lead author on the article.

Optimizing Fiber Assembly and Microstructure

The latest article builds on work by Lian’s group that was previously published in Science in 2015. This work, which is sponsored by the National Science Foundation, is a collaboration with fellow MANE researchers, including Associate Professor Lucy Zhang and Professor Suvranu De, who heads the department.

“This research paves the way for new sciences to optimize the fiber assembly and microstructure to develop high-performance graphene fibers,” said Lian. “This approach could be extended to other materials to manufacture hierarchical structures for diverse functional applications.”
 

Source: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Airbus and Dassault Systèmes embark on a five-year strategic partnership

Airbus and Dassault Systèmes have signed a five-year Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) to cooperate on the implementation of collaborative 3D design, engineering, manufacturing, simulation and intelligence applications.

This will enable Airbus to take a major step forward in its digital transformation and lay the foundation for a new European industrial ecosystem in aviation.
Under the MOA, Airbus will deploy Dassault Systèmes’ 3DExperience platform, which delivers digital continuity, from design to operations, in a single data model for a unified user experience, making digital design, manufacturing and services (DDMS) a company-wide reality for all Airbus divisions and product lines.

DDMS paves the way for breakthroughs in new product design, operational performance, support and maintenance, customer satisfaction and new business models, as it represents a move from sequential to parallel development processes. Instead of first focusing on product performance, Airbus will be able to co-design and develop the next generation of aircraft with the manufacturing facilities that will produce them, reducing costs and time to market.

 “We are not just talking about digitalisation or a 3D experience, we are rethinking the way aircraft are designed and operated, streamlining and speeding up our processes with customer satisfaction in mind.” said Guillaume Faury, President Airbus Commercial Aircraft. “DDMS is a catalyst for change and with it we are building a new model for the European aerospace industry with state of the art technology. Our target is a robust production setup that offers a reduction in product development lead time.”

 “Nothing exemplifies the intersection of technology, science and art more than aviation. When we reflect on how the industry has evolved to where it is today, it’s a blend of technical prowess, digital precision and inspiration,” said Bernard Charlès, Vice Chairman and CEO, Dassault Systèmes. “The Aerospace industry has a proven track record of fast transformation, faster than in most industries. It delivers high quality innovation and new services for operations in highly complex and regulated environments. The 3DExperience platform will accelerate the digital transformation of Airbus. Airbus can capture insights and expertise from across its ecosystem to deliver new experiences that only the digital world makes possible.”

Source:AIRBUS

SABIC Begins Production & Commercialization of Certified Circular Polymers

SABIC has announced another major milestone in its ground-breaking project to pioneer the production of certified circular polymers using a feedstock from mixed plastic waste.

Commercializing Certified Circular Polymers

The latest achievement – the production of the first certified circular polymers – is part of what is known as a ‘market foundation stage’. Launched in January, this stage is an important step towards creating a new circular value chain for plastics. During this stage, initial volumes of pyrolysis oil from plastic waste are introduced as feedstock at SABIC’s Geleen production site in The Netherlands. The patented pyrolysis oil has been produced by PLASTIC ENERGY Ltd from the recycling of low quality, mixed plastic waste otherwise destined for incineration or landfill.

As part of the market foundation stage, SABIC has begun to produce and commercialize the first monthly volumes of certified circular polymers - polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP). This is prior to the projected start-up in 2021 of the commercial plants planned by SABIC and PLASTIC ENERGY in the Netherlands to manufacture and process the alternative feedstock.

Closing the Loop on Reutilizing Plastic Waste

Frank Kuijpers, General Manager Corporate Sustainability at SABIC said, “Certified circular polymers are a disruptive innovation and SABIC’s market foundation stage is a critical phase in their development,”

“It will act as a bridge moving from a linear economy to a circular one and will enable the value chain to become familiar with the products and consider how they can best be implemented in their own markets. It will allow confidence in this pioneering product to grow before SABIC goes into full scale production.”

The polymers are certified through the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification plus (ISCC+) scheme that certifies:

• Circular content, and 
• Standards across the value chain from source to end product

The ISCC+ certification works on what is known as a “mass balance system”, meaning that for each ton of circular feedstock fed into the cracker and substituting fossil-based feedstock, a ton of the output can be classified as circular.

Certified circular polymers will help SABIC’s customers to meet consumer demand for more sustainable products and will contribute to closing the loop on reutilizing plastic waste.

Source: SABIC

Recent Study Reveals New Renewable FR Material Using Coffee Waste

Dr Henry Leung from the School of Chemical and Life Sciences and his team of three final-year students from the Diploma in Medicinal Chemistry found a way to lessen the environmental impact of coffee waste. They have turned used coffee grounds into a flame retardant that could potentially be used to improve fire safety in homes and offices.

Leveraging Slow-burning Properties of Coffee By treating coffee waste and mixing it with epoxy resin – a material commonly found in floorings and walls of homes – the team were able to leverage the slow-burning properties of coffee to create a material that could withstand a fire by as much as two times that of regular epoxy resin. This new material has also attained an “HB” grading, which indicates slow burning on a horizontal specimen, based on initial findings by a third-party testing laboratory. Apart from its fire-resistant qualities, the coffee-epoxy resin has the potential to become a total solution for reducing coffee waste as grounding coffee waste into compost requires large storage space. The incineration of compost is also a space- and energy-consuming process. Source: NYP

Calvera delivers mobile gas pipeline to transport biomethane in Finland

The Industrial Group Calvera has recently supplied a customer in Finland with several units of their containers for the transport of biomethane, a mobile gas pipeline solution. The innovative equipment is designed under the flexible Hooklift system that includes easy loading and unloading with a Multilift hydraulic arm coupled to a truck, which makes logistics much easier by taking natural gas storage where it is needed and without leaving the tanker truck, only the container.

Calvera’s equipment was custom-made in terms of capacity and weight, adjusting the product as much as possible to the client’s specific needs and offering high levels of efficiency and profitability through the use of the latest available technology.

In this case, the client produces renewable natural gas from a wood waste digester, which is then compressed and marketed in biomethane service stations that serve buses, trucks, cars and light vehicles in Finland.

The Nordic countries and Finland in particular have been betting on biomethane and on this type of mobility solutions that are gradually being extended thanks.

Source: Calvera/Gasnam

Teijin extends Bombardier contract

Teijin Limited has been awarded a contract to supply its carbon fiber material to Bombardier Aerostructures for another seven years, until 2025.

Teijin says that part of its focus on aircraft business growth during 2017-2019 and developing carbon fibers with higher tenacity and higher tensile modulus, intermediate materials, carbon fiber thermoplastic consolidated laminate, thermoset prepreg and non-crimp fabric.

Teijin was awarded a contract by Bombardier to supply materials for major primary and secondary composite structures in 2010 and the company’s Tenax carbon fiber has been used for primary structure applications including wing, center wing box structures and empennage applications.

Source;Teijin

Avantium Acquires BASF’s Stake for Full Ownership of Bioplastics Business Synvina

Avantium has retaken full ownership of its YXY plants-to-plastics technology through the purchase of BASF’s shares in the Synvina joint venture. Avantium has appointed Marcel Lubben as Managing Director of Synvina to lead the commercialization of the YXY technology, effective 1 February 2019.
Avantium has regained the intellectual property, people and assets for YXY and has paid BASF €13.7 million for its equity stake in Synvina, as agreed in the Joint Venture Agreement. A net payment of €3.7 million was made for full ownership of the assets acquired by Synvina in the last two years.

Redefining Commercialization Path for Renewable Chemistries

Avantium is redefining the path to commercialization for the YXY technology, which it developed to catalytically convert plant-based sugars into FDCA (furandicarboxylic acid) and materials such as the new plant-based packaging material PEF (polyethylenefuranoate).

• PEF can fulfil the demand of leading brands and consumers for next-generation materials that are environmentally friendly and recyclable
• PEF has the potential to be a game changer in the circular economy

Avantium plans to make further announcements on its new strategy to commercialize YXY during the first half of 2019.
 

Synvina - New Business Unit of Avantium

Synvina has become a new business unit of Avantium, alongside the existing Catalysis and Renewable Chemistries business units.

Avantium’s renewable chemistry programs include:

• Dawn Technology™, which converts non-food feedstock to industrial sugars and lignin, and 
• Mekong technology, which transforms sugars into plant-based monoethylene glycol (MEG) used in the production of materials including renewable plastics and polyesters

Marcel Lubben - New Managing Director of Synvina

Experienced chemicals and biotech executive Marcel Lubben is appointed Managing Director of Synvina and will join Victor Vreeken (Chief Operations Officer) and Willem-Jan Meijer (Financial Director) in Synvina’s leadership team. Lubben worked for 25 years at DSM in various senior business roles, in licensing, corporate venture capital and technology. In his last role, he was president of Reverdia, a joint venture between DSM and Roquette for the production and sale of bio-based succinic acid.

Tom van Aken, Chief Executive Officer of Avantium: “Our belief in YXY and its market potential is rock-solid. Producing FDCA and PEF is a complex innovation process that requires a completely new value chain. I am convinced that the work done so far and the value chain we have built will spur the commercialization of PEF. We have the people, ambition and expertise to bring FDCA and PEF successfully to market, and are very pleased Marcel Lubben will strengthen the team to spearhead this.”

Marcel Lubben, new Managing Director of Synvina: “Green, innovative materials are essential elements in the global transition to a circular economy. I have been following the progress on YXY for several years and am impressed by how it has been built out to a platform for unique materials with significant performance benefits. I am delighted to assume leadership of this Avantium business unit and bring this important technology to market.”
 
Source: Avantium