In August, Unesp and Volkswagen do Brasil signed an agreement for the development of research and testing for the inclusion of natural fibers in the production of parts that make up the interior finish of vehicles produced by the automaker. The idea is that some parts of cars that today are made of plastic, such as dashboards, linings or finishing inside the doors, start to include natural fibers in their design. The aim is to reduce the carbon footprint of the automaker’s production process, reduce the weight of the vehicle and allow for significant recycling of these parts.
The contract provides for a payment of 430 thousand reais for 18 months of research and technology transfer to the car manufacturer or its suppliers, which may include the method of making new materials on the car production line. Volkswagen representatives claim that the adoption of the technology reduces carbon emissions in the automaker’s production process, a move that is in line with the company’s goals to reduce CO emissions. two until 2050.
“The replacement of mineral and natural components will allow to reduce about 80% of carbon emissions in the production process. In addition, the weight of the plastic parts of the car will be reduced by about 10%, which also means a reduction in the amount of CO. two was beamed into the sky”, features Pablo Di Si, executive chairman of Volkswagen Latin America.
The development of research and experiments will be carried out by RESIDUALL – Laboratory of Bioprocesses and Biotechnology of the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences (FCA) of Unesp, on the campus of Botucatu, under the coordination of Professor Alcides Lopes Leão. One of the group’s main lines of research involves the development, on an experimental scale, of new composites. In a simplified way, composites are products made up of two materials with different properties that, when combined, present a third physical-chemical profile, different from the previous ones. “I say that the combination is 1 + 1 = 3”, sums up Leão.
The focus of the group in this collaboration with the car manufacturer, however, is on the research of composites that include natural fibers in their composition. The researcher claims that he has already examined more than a hundred types of fibers in the laboratory, originating from Brazil and South America and the Caribbean, as well as Germany, New Zealand and Australia. With the requirements established by the agreement with Volkswagen, the group should lead studies especially for sisal, a plant widely used as raw material for rope and fiber, produced mainly in the state of Bahia; jute, known for its use in sacks and in the textile industry, whose production is concentrated in the states of Pará and Amazonas; and coconut fiber, obtained mainly from fruit residues.
The agreement between Unesp and Volkswagen provides for the replacement of a set of interior finishing parts that today are made of plastic or fiberglass. Leão says that the parts included in the initial agreement project add up to about seven kilograms of weight. “I calculate, on a conservative account, that it is possible to go further and achieve a replacement of up to 30 kg per car”, he says. Once this first phase of research and testing, which will last 18 months, is completed, the automaker will evaluate the form and method in which this technology will be incorporated into the production line. The most likely is that technology transfer will happen to a particular company that supplies the automaker. “The advantage of the company is to create a car with a low carbon content in its production, light and, therefore, with low fuel consumption, with renewable parts, and with a positive social impact, since a good part of these fibers are produced. in areas with economic recession”, explains Leão.
The technology developed by the group involves combining the most suitable natural fibers to be added to the plastic. “Plastics and fibers do not ‘love’ each other, they tolerate each other. It is up to our technology, through chemistry, to make them love each other”, says Leão, who has the chemist Ivana Cesarino as the main laboratory partner. The process involves grinding natural fibers until they are reduced to fine pieces. Then , this bran is placed in a machine made by the laboratory, where it is finally mixed with plastic, making a solid and homogeneous alloy.
Although the process of “joining” fibers and plastics is the same for all fibers, the final goal of the application usually imposes certain special requirements, which are expressed in the inclusion of certain chemical additives to adapt the mixture to the needs. Car interiors, for example, cannot smell, absorb water, swell, change color or rot, to name a few requirements. In addition, they need to be homogeneous, to be durable and reproducible. These are the main features found in plastic and fiberglass, today the two main materials used in the manufacture of these parts. In addition, new mixtures must be made from raw materials whose production chain is capable of meeting the needs of large-scale production, another “advantage” of plastic.
“These are difficult requirements when working with natural fibers. And the automotive industry is very demanding of these points”, says the professor, citing as an example the difficulty of safety issues in the car manufacturing process. “To meet these requirements, it is important add some extras. They have the ability to provide material properties such as resistance to fire or damage by ultraviolet radiation, for example, as well as improving its mechanical properties “, he says. “Great technology is in the mix.”
For at least 20 years, a research group at Botucatu University has been studying technologies that allow replacing thermoplastic parts (such as polypropylene or polyethylene) with composites that add natural fibers to these materials. In the late 1990s, Alcides Leão already had the support of FAPESP through Partnership Program for Technological Innovation (PITE). to conduct research on the production of composites from natural fibers. In the early 2000s, he started studying application to the automotive industry.
The first years of work, however, were frustrating. The researcher says some projects have failed due to the lack of awareness and interest on the part of the industry in environmental matters. Today, this agenda is the order of the day. “It was a bad fight in the early years. But even so, I think we were able to maintain scientific production and a good critical mass”, he says, emphasizing that the country takes 6% of the research on the topic that continues on the planet. “Today there are at least 200 researchers working with natural fibers in Brazil.”
A new strategy for cooperation between the university and business
The change was gradual. However, the growth of the debate on climate change, which began to gain momentum in the 2000s, represented a turning point in the way the production industry sees not only natural fibers, but the entire area of the biological economy in general. In the special field of replacing plastic parts with materials that include natural elements in their design, several similar plans are underway, carried out by other automakers.
The agreement established between the Botucatu laboratory and Volkswagen was also celebrated by the Unesp Innovation Agency (AUIN). According to the Director of the Agency, Professor Saulo Guerra, the partnership is in line with the technology transfer and innovation policies that Unesp wants to establish with the production sector and has already allowed a close relationship with the car manufacturer.
“Volkswagen is an important international company and the signing of the contract opened the door to a business cycle with a company in which AUIN can present other technologies developed by researchers at the University that aroused the company’s interest”, says Guerra.
The director explains that for several years now, Unesp’s innovation policy strategy has aimed to stimulate the joint development of technology and the production sector. This approach is very different from the system that is still widely used, where researchers working in isolation in their laboratories invent new processes and products, which lead to new patents whose registration requires a lot of resources on the part of the University, but is not always of interest for the specific needs of the sector. “What we have seen in these two years at the head of the Agency is that there is a gradual increase in this type of agreement between Unesp researchers and companies”, he says.
At a time when the world’s population is beginning to face the direct consequences of climate change, technologies that help reduce carbon emissions into the atmosphere are becoming increasingly urgent. Therefore, the view is that there will be an increase in interest in the subject. “The carbon used in our material was originally in the plant. Therefore, it has been circulating in the atmosphere and has been deposited in the soil and the plant. It is different from petroleum, which is the basis of plastic production, because the carbon in petroleum was taken from “The biggest problem with climate change is that the carbon we took from underground was not accounted for,” says Leão.
Although climate concerns represent a desirable trend, the benefits that technology provides go beyond environmental benefits. “Our fibers can beat other materials because they are good. It is important to connect the technical issue with the needs of the environment. But I have always fought for its use to be adopted due to the advantages and technical characteristics that these fibers have”, he says.