CIDAUT continues to advance in the development of thermoset composite materials with improved recyclability properties that can be used in applications that require high performance materials (construction, aeronautics and automotive) in the framework of the European project r-LightBioCom, which has just been launched.
r-LightBioCom’s main objective is to reduce environmental impact of the new lightweight HPC, not only during their production but also during their operational life and after achieving their final lifetime (inherent recyclability properties), while providing improved mechanical properties, weight reduction and new functionalities.
This project, funded by the European Commission, is part of the Horizon Europe programme, one of the most competitive and prestigious calls for proposals at European level, which exclusively promotes projects with great excellence. It has a budget of 4.2 million euros and is made up of 15 multidisciplinary partners.
The consortium is coordinated by the Textile and Cosmetics Research and Innovation Centre (Aitex) and Cidaut leads and coordinates two important tasks. The first is dedicated to the processing of the new materials developed to obtain composites using novel and environmentally friendly technologies. The second is the analysis of the life cycle of the materials and processes that will allow validation of their environmental viability.
The project has already held its kick-off meeting in Alicante (Spain) on 30th and 31st January.
For CIDAUT it is great news that a new European R&D project has been awarded in one of the most competitive and highest level calls for proposals, Horizon Europe. This consolidates us as an international benchmark in the field of recycling complex plastic materials, such as fibre-reinforced composites, as well as in the development of more sustainable solutions. This is a very important line of work at a time when administrations, companies and society are demanding plastic materials with a lower environmental impact.
Last 17th February 2023 Bionanopolys project consortium performed a Virtual Open Day, where partners explained how to develop, test or upscale bionanomaterials in this open innovation test bed environment.
Our Open innovation test-bed has a lot of services to offer! With our 14 technical services (pilot plants) you will get the unique opportunity to accelerate your development of biobased bionanomaterials (https://www.bionanopolys.eu/pilot-plants/). And with our additional transversal and non-technical business services, our team will help you to pave your way to the market.
Let’s join forces and develop innovative bionanomaterials! and we would like to explain how to develop, test or upscale bionanomaterials in this open innovation test bed environment.
IFEVS is the Italian company designing smart electric urban vehicles with four main characteristics, affordability, all made in Europe, modularity and safety. The aim to obtain affordable solutions has addressed to the design of high strength steel tubular frames for different vehicle configurations. The technology is so flexible that can be applied to the frame of a bicycle and also to the frame of a van. For the last ten years, CIDAUT as specialist in crash worthiness, has established a strong collaboration with IFEVS to make these smart vehicles as safe as possible, being able to comply not only with the Regulation applicable to M1 vehicles but also with the more restrictive Euro NCAP protocols.
In TRA Lisbon, IFEVS presented the four wheels vehicle and also different configurations of the e-bike. In the case of the e-bikes the two and three wheels versions were available for testing. The vehicles received very good comments after testing mainly related to the high comfort, the easiness to ride and the progressivity of the electric boost.
Besides the positive feed-back of the tester, it is important to highlight that thanks to the modular design of the frame, its manufacturing cost is lower than the ones coming from Asian countries and also easy to manufacture in a low investment assembly line, with the competitive advantage that the design and the components are made in Europe, with innovative solutions for the energy storage system.
Acknowledgment
The research leading to these results received funding from the European Union (EU) project Avangard (GA #869986)
Euro NCAP protocols are continuously evolving to warranty the highest level of active and passive safety in the vehicles available in the market. As a result of this evolution a new frontal crash scenario has been recently included, it is the Mobile Progressive Deformable Barrier test (MPDB). It consists on a mobile vehicle of 1.400kg with a deformable barrier in the front that circulates at 50kph and crashes against the tested vehicle, also circulating at 50kph with a 50% overlap.
This crash configuration is especially critical for light urban electric vehicles. The fist reason for this assertion is related to the mass and size of the urban vehicle. As they are quite light, the impact against another vehicle that almost duplicates their mass is really challenging, and this fact is aggravated by the small size of the vehicle that implies a shorter space to absorb all the energy coming from the 1400kg vehicle and the ego vehicle. The second reason for this assertion is related to the need to protect the batteries from any kind of damage, which is especially critical also in a small sized vehicle.
Thanks to the development of Multi-Moby project, and together with the rest of the partners of the consortium, CIDAUT has demonstrated that it is possible to comply with this restrictive crash configuration. To achieve a positive result, and exhaustive optimization of the vehicle structure, together with the suitable design of the restraint system have been performed at the research and development center. After the optimization process, the simulations have shown that it is possible to protect both the occupants and the energy storage system from significant damage in this kind of impact.
Acknowledgment
The research leading to these results received funding from the European Union (EU) project MULTI-MOBY (GA #101006953)
On the 27th of September, the Circular Economy Forum: Challenge of plastic recycling organized by the Institute for the Business Competitiveness of Castilla y León (ICE) in collaboration with the Cidaut Foundation was celebratedin the facilities of the Cidaut Foundation. This Forum was inaugurated by the Councillor for Economy and Finance of the Region of Castilla y León (Spain), Mr. Carlos Javier Fernández Carriedo, and the president of Cidaut Foundation, Mr. José Oliveri Gandarillas, who highlighted the importance of the transition towards a productive model of circular economy in the plastic sector.
With the aim of incorporating the circular economy as a key element to promote the change towards a model of sustainable development and focused on plastic materials in particular, the Forum addressed this aspect from a double point of view: first, trends in R&D related to the recycling of plastics was analyzed, and on the other hand, the latest developments in the regulatory context were addressed. This Circular Economy Forum had the following talks:
– ‘Future trends and challenges to optimize the quality of plastic recycling and its circularity’ presented by researchers from CIB-CSIC and ICTP-CSIC.
– ‘Panel Discussion: R&D as a key in the transition to the circular economy’ moderated by CyLTV and composed of the four partners of the Osiris Network -GAIKER, AIMPLAS, AITEX and CIDAUT- and the University of Valladolid (CELLMAT laboratory).
– ‘The new regulations: Challenges and solutions for the Circular Economy’ presented by CICLOPLAST.
– ‘Panel Discussion: Challenges and Opportunities for the different sectors in the new scenario of the recycling and circularity’ moderated by ECOEMBES and composed by the representatives of the following companies: Viscofan, SABIC, SOSTENPLAS and Grupo Antolin.
– ‘Case of successes’ presented by Mr. Antón Fernández, CEO of PolyNext-Naeco.
– ‘Roadmap for the Circular Economy in Castilla y León’ presented by the Natural Heritage Foundation of Castilla y León.
Finally, the event was closed by the Director of Cidaut Foundation, Mr. Juan Carlos Merino Senovilla, and after that the attendees were able to visit the facilities of Cidaut Foundation.
Last July 5th, the ESTELLA consortium met in Brussels to kick-off the project. All partners presented their role and they discussed the details of the implementation of the work plan for the following 42 months of research.
The ESTELLA is an ambitious initiative that proposes an innovative solution to improve the recyclability of poorly recyclable materials, specifically thermoset composites. This will involve the design of novel thermosetting biocomposites (epoxy and natural fibres) with inherent recyclability. This will be achieved thanks to the introduction of the Covalent Adaptive Network (CAN) that will allow the resin (reprocessed or repolymerised into new products) and fibres to be recycled. The recyclability of the composites developed will be evaluated by means of current mechanical, chemical and biological processes adapted to these new materials. And they will be validated through the manufacture of prototypes for the construction and leisure/mobility sectors.
The ESTELLA consortium has 13 partners from 9 European countries as well as Slovenia, Poland, The Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Spain, Denmark, Germany and Norway. Soon our project website will be up and running!
