BioMatNet Item: AIR3-CT94-2000 - High Performance Biocomposites with Improved Durability and Dimensional Stability from Non-Toxic Chemically Modified Lignocellulosic Fibres

AIR3-CT94-2000
High Performance Biocomposites with Improved Durability and Dimensional Stability from Non-Toxic Chemically Modified Lignocellulosic Fibres

Contacts
Further Information

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AIR Cluster VIII - Wood Products : Agricultural Residues : Biocomposites/Boards : Fibre : Wood (Lignocellulose)

	Contract No	AIR3-CT94-2000
	Total Cost	1 326 402 ECU
	EC Contribution	1 070 000 ECU
	Start Date	01/12/1994
	Duration	36 months

Objectives

Lignocellulosic fibres derived from wood and annual plants are known to be strongly upgraded biologically (resistance to fungi and insects) and technologically (dimensional stability, resistance to weathering) when the cell wall components are chemically modified by bonding bulky, less hydrophilic groups such as the naturally occuring acetyl groups.

Chemical modification has been shown to be applicable not only to high-quality wood fibres, but also to fibres from fast-growing hardwood species and annual plants and to waste wood fibres and fibres recovered from waste paper products. By this upgrading renewable fibres with different origin are transferred into a high-quality, non-toxic resource.

The strongly improved properties gained by chemical modification enable the manufacturing of moulded fibre composites with properties that allow the composites to be used in new applications where traditional wood fibre based products have shown to possess insufficient technical properties. The overall aim of the project is to produce moulded, high-performance fibre composites and evaluate their properties in comparison with those achieved with present technology using non-modified fibres thereby visualizing the improvements gained by the new techniques in different applications. To be able to fulfil this objective, the project will include the following integrated tasks :

Different chemical modifications of fibres from different fibre sources including recycled fibre and fibre from annual plants will be performed. The modified fibres will be used in well-known mat-forming systems for dry-forming of fibres in order to produce a flexible, low-density fibre mat suitable for moulding of composite products of complex shape. The known technique has revealed a need for further development due to a different behaviour of the modified, drier fibre in the mixing head of the mat-forming machine.

Finally, a market analysis will be performed based on specifications of requirement and the ability of competitiveness for the new products within different market segments. The proposed project has a strong industrial input.

Production of flexible fibre mat from acetylated fibres in a pilot plant

Contacts

Coordinator

Prof Rune SIMONSON / Chalmers University of Technology Department Forest Products / SWEDEN

EC Scientific Officer

Ignacio SEOANE / European Commission DG Research Theme 1 Key Action 5.3 / BELGIUM

Participant