New business opportunities for the industry

The three-year project ProNanoCell has been completed and the results were presented in early June. During the project three different methods were investigated for the production of a polymer composite reinforced with cellulose nanofibrils.

pronanocell prototyper2

The purpose of the project was to develop new green composite materials from the forest sector and use environmentally friendly water-based production methods. It will in turn provide new business opportunities for industry and more resource-efficient utilization of raw materials and energy.

The main objective of the project was to increase the flexural resistance by 50% and that target was first met in two methods. With a modification of the third method, the same rigidity module was achieved as the other methods.

“We are pleased with the result because the bending resistance has increased by 140%,” says project coordinator Göran Flodberg.

pronanocell prototyp

During the project’s final summary, various demonstrations were presented.

• Wrist support and coffee cups (50% CNF / 50% polymer).
• Internal door module for the Volvo XC90.
• An advanced beam construction consists of injection molded foam of CNF and polypropylene.

“We have run in pilot scale for all models and certainly there have been challenges. A challenge has been to achieve a good distribution of nanocellulose in the plastic material, “says Göran.

The three methods were Wet Web comingling, DEVO process and the modified Kyoto process.

Companies in this project: Innventia, Elastopoli Oy, Fraunhofer-ICT, Ljungby Komposit AB, Volvo Cars, Stora Enso Pulp & Paper Asia AB, All-Plast Oy, A. Schulman.