SBIR Phase II: High Performance Structural Composites with Cellulosic Nanoparticles

SBIR 第二阶段：含有纤维素纳米颗粒的高性能结构复合材料

• 批准号: 1560753
• 负责人: Elisa Teipel
• 金额: $ 72.11万
• 依托单位: Essentium Materials LLC
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2016-03-15 至 2018-11-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1560753&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; II; Performance; Structural

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project seeks to commercialize high-strength thermoplastic composites reinforced with cellulosic nanoparticles (CNs) as a replacement for heavier glass‐reinforced composite materials for structural automotive components. The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is to create sustainable, high‐performance nanocomposites. Expected weight savings is between 13 and 20% per component. Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) regulations require significant increases in fuel economy for vehicles, which has led carmakers to look for innovative ways to shed vehicle weight. It has been shown that for every 10% in weight savings, vehicle fuel consumption is reduced by 7%. The target application is to replace heavy glass reinforcement in polymeric composites with CNCs for car parts, providing lighter weight vehicles with increased fuel efficiency. On‐going research into CN materials has resulted in significant reductions in cost (with more reductions expected), making CNs an increasingly attractive functional natural nanofiller, the processing of which will provide jobs in both the manufacturing and the technology sector. Successful implementation of CNs into composites could not only lighten vehicles and reduce environmental impact, but also transform a waste stream into value-added materials, reducing the amount of waste produced by these industries. During the SBIR Phase I period, the company showed that lighter thermoplastic composites reinforced with cellulosic nanoparticles could meet the tensile strength values of glass-reinforced composites with much higher loadings, thereby saving part weight. The Phase II grant will allow the company to scale up the manufacturing processes necessary to produce these lighter, more sustainable composites for the automotive industry. Furthermore, the company will improve performance of these materials in order to attain performance parity with higher‐loaded glass‐reinforced parts and potentially to compete with ultra‐high performance materials such as carbon fiber composites and metals. This technology will be produced using efficient and economical manufacturing processes, allowing this to become a true drop‐in technology for automotive part-makers.

这个小型企业创新研究(SBIR)二期项目寻求将高强度热塑性复合材料商业化，用纤维纳米颗粒(CNS)来替代较重的玻璃纤维增强复合材料，用于汽车结构部件。该项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是创造可持续的、高性能的纳米复合材料。预计每个组件可节省13%至20%的重量。企业平均燃油经济性(CAFE)法规要求大幅提高车辆的燃油经济性，这促使汽车制造商寻找创新的方法来减轻车辆重量。研究表明，每节省10%的重量，车辆的油耗就会减少7%。其目标应用是用碳纳米管替代聚合物复合材料中的重玻璃，用于汽车零部件，提供更轻的汽车，提高燃料效率。随着对CN材料的研究不断进行，CN材料的成本大幅降低(预计还会有更多的降低)，使CNS成为一种越来越有吸引力的功能性天然纳米材料，其加工将在制造业和技术部门提供就业机会。成功地将CNS应用到复合材料中不仅可以减轻车辆重量和减少对环境的影响，还可以将废流转化为增值材料，减少这些行业产生的废物量。在SBIR第一阶段期间，该公司展示了用纤维纳米颗粒增强的较轻的热塑性复合材料可以在更高的载荷下满足玻璃增强复合材料的拉伸强度值，从而节省了部分重量。第二阶段的拨款将允许该公司扩大必要的制造工艺，为汽车行业生产这些更轻、更可持续的复合材料。此外，该公司将改进这些材料的性能，以达到与负载更高的玻璃和增强部件平起平坐的性能，并有可能与碳纤维复合材料和金属等超高性能材料竞争。这项技术将使用高效和经济的制造工艺来生产，使其成为汽车零部件制造商真正的技术落脚点。