NATURAL FIBRES AND FILLERS | MATERIALS
injection moulding and FDM filament-type additive manufacturing to form test specimens for subse- quent testing. The materials are evaluated for their UL94 fire performance rating, heat resistance, glow-wire test, tracking resistance, tensile strength and modulus of elasticity, impact resistance, water absorption and swelling. “During the first year of the project, it was possible to develop PLA-based formulations, extrude them into filaments and print them, thereby achieving the UL94 V-0 classification at a test-specimen thickness of 1.6 mm,” says Schirp. “Flame-retardant PLA as well as a flame-retardant wood fibre-reinforced PLA/PBS blend successfully withstood the glow-wire test at 960° C. With regard to tracking resistance, the flame-retardant, wood fibre-reinforced PLA/PBS blend achieved at least 175V; in one test, 200 V and 250 V were also achieved.”
In the second year of the project, research will involve investigations with PHB and PET, as well as the new bio-flame retardant. In addition, and in cooperation with project partners from industry, the formulations will be compounded on a larger scale and processed for applications in electrical engineering and electronics (E&E) and logistics.
Cellulose research Natural fibre interest does not stop at Europe’s borders. In North America, Performance BioFila- ments, a Canadian producer of nanofibrillated cellulose, recently completed an investigation in collaboration with the National Research Council of Canada’s Automotive and Surface Transportation Center to determine and evaluate material prop-
Above: The Prima chair, widely used throughout Finland’s schools, is now available in a compound based on cellulose reinforced recycled PP
Back to school for Prima
A collaboration between Finnish furniture company Isku and Fortum (probably best known as a clean power generation company but which has also developed plastics based on post- consumer recyclates) has led to the introduction of a new version of Isku’s Prima school chair. Used in schools around the world since the 1990s, this new version of the classic design is made from recycled plastics, mostly consumer packaging collected from Finnish households, reinforced with cellulose fibre. “Fortum Circo PP FC recycled plastic is a new type of material specifically developed to meet the requirements of a highly durable product,” says Mikko Koivuniemi, Fortum’s Product Line Manager, Plastic Recycling. The compound was developed in collaboration with a third
Finnish company Elastopoli, which has been working on develop- ment of natural fibre reinforced composites for 14 years, and is based on a patented process technology. “The material has qualities on par with virgin plastic, but its environmental impacts are significantly smaller,” says Koivuniemi. �
www.fortum.com
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IMAGE: FORTUM
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