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r-LightBioCom

Project team

Jesper Christensen
Dr Fernando Cepero Mejias

Funder

Horizon Europe – European Commission

Value

£321,714.99

Collaborators

Lead partner: Asociacion de Investigacion de la Industria Textil

Other collaborators:

  • Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya
  • Hochschule Kaiserslautern
  • Leibniz-Institut Fur Verbundwerkstoffe GMBH
  • Deutsches Zentrum Fur Luft - Und Raumfahrt EV
  • Fundación Cidaut
  • AEP Polymers SRL
  • Feyecon Development & Implementation BV
  • Fabrica Espanola De Confecciones SA
  • Centro Ricerche Fiat SCPA
  • Acciona Construccion SA
  • Aciturri Engineering SL
  • CU Services Limited

Duration

01/01/2023 to 30/06/2026


Project overview

New lightweight High-Performance Composite (HPC) materials and efficient sustainable processing technologies will have an enormous environmental and performance benefit in all sectors of application. However, current sustainable HPC application is limited to large sectors due to their limitations in terms of long processing times, high prices and low recyclability. To overcome these limitations, r-LightBioCom propose a paradigm shift in the way HPC are manufactured and recycled, unlocking sustainable-by-design production of lightweight HPC. Therefore, the project will enable new circular value chains towards r-LightBioCom results, contributing to environmental-related EU goals and reducing the HPC waste generation and the use of non-sustainable fossil resources.

To this end, a sustainable catalogue of new advanced biobased and recycled HPC materials will be initially developed with inherent recyclability properties (at least 3 new types of bio-resins, 4 new biomass-derived nanofillers and additives, and 3 families of sustainable fibre-based textile products). To reduce current associated manufacturing costs and high energy consumptions and emissions, efficient processing techniques will be developed (2 new fast curing techniques) combined with recycling technologies for the new catalogue of materials to reduce waste generation and induce circularity.

A new open method and related tools (Coupled Ecological Optimisation framework) will promote and standardise holistic sustainable HPC design, modelling and systematic optimisation, leading to continuous sustainable catalogue growth and inclusion of new families of biobased, recyclable lightweight HPC at competitive cost. All results will be validated in 3 use cases at automotive, infrastructure and aeronautic industries with specific business cases, contributing to establishing new resilient, sustainable and innovative value chains in the EU HPC industry, promoting a change of paradigm from linear to circular ones.

Project objectives

  1. To develop new bio-based resins with improved recyclability and tailored to the HPC needs in terms of performance and processing technologies
  2. To enhance the properties of lightweight composites for applications in various sectors of different requirement demands as road transport, infrastructures, and aeronautics
  3. To unveil and re-design processing technologies to manufacture new lightweight HPC components and structures based on sustainable fibres and bio-resins (+50% of bio-based & sustainable material)
  4. To develop new fast curing methods together with new out of autoclave processing techniques for composite fabrication with lower process energy and time demand, resulting in reduced manufacturing costs and associated emissions
  5. To validate new r-LightBioCom raw materials (R1-5) and processes (R6) in targeted sectors
  6. To develop a sustainable-by-design framework with a focus on enhancing recycling and modelling to generate and enable a change of paradigm towards circular value chains
  7. To standardise r-LightBioCom HPC manufacturing processes to facilitate replicability, reducing time to market

Impact statement

r_lighBioCom’s ultimate aim is to enable the design and production of sustainable composite structures. Ultimately, this will lead to more efficient systems such as lighter and more durable planes and cars which can be re-used or recycled. This drastically reduces landfill waste and carbon foot-print for production and manufacturing of everyday products and goods making significant advances towards a net-zero /green society.

 Queen’s Award for Enterprise Logo
University of the year shortlisted
QS Five Star Rating 2023