New bio-based lightweight material unveiled
The research institutes Innventia and Swerea Sicomp have worked together in unique cooperation to develop the first carbon-fibre composite ‘demonstrator’ from softwood lignin. The lightweight, fuel-efficient car of the future can be made using this material.
The demonstrator – a sandwich structure in which balsa wood is laminated with carbon fibre – is the first proof that it is possible to manufacture lignin-based carbon fibre, even if this is still only on a laboratory scale. The production of another demonstrator is already under way to demonstrate a future application within the automotive industry, a model car powered by a lignin-based battery.
"Our first demonstrator is helping us to understand what we need to focus on in our R&D work, so it’s particularly pleasing that we have now taken a big leap forward in the value chain. One of the biggest needs right now is to scale up for a continuous production process so that we can identify the challenges that always arise during upscaling. We hope that both industry and society will be bold enough to invest in this upscaling,” says Per Tomani, Focus Area Manager for Lignin & Carbon Fibre at Innventia.