Recycled Plastic as a Building Material

There are a few building materials already using recycled plastic; some composite decking products use recycled polyethylene grocery bags. The video above describes a whole new building product. Here, it appears the variety of ground up plastics are held together by a thermoset. If this is the case, the plastic will act as the reinforcement in the new composite material...

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Shape Memory Composite

Photo Credit: Technology Review

Imagine an airplane wing that could change shape when it hits a certain speed and become more aerodynamic. Perhaps one day this will become a reality. Technology Review reports on some polymers that have multiple shape memories. Meaning, when the polymer reachers a certain temperature, it will change into a preset shape...

Pretty awesome if you ask me.

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Recycling Composite Materials

For many reasons, composite material products need to have a better solution for their end of life. Thermoset composites have difficulties in reprocessing, however thermoplastic composites are showing some promise. Technology Review discusses some breakthroughs in recycling PET, which may provide some foundation for recycling fiber reinforced PET in the future. Essentially, researchers at IBM have figured out how to chemically break down PET to their original parts, which then can be used again. Traditional recycling of PET uses heat and pressure to melt down the plastic.

Although recycling composite materials is necessary, composites still provide valuable environmental savings during their life. In composite transportation products such as marine, rail, aerospace, and automotive, the fuel saving and carbon reduction benefits can outweigh the downside of not being able to recycle. Here is a Swedish study of a Life Cycle Analysis (LCA for short, and likely an acronym we hear often) of fiber reinforced composites.

In the study, the researched compared the LCA of a steel ship with composite sandwich structures. Even though steel is recycled in the end, the emission reductions and corrosion benefits of using composite materials outweigh the recycling benefit.

Now, imagine the LCA comparison when fully recyclable composites are used...

Photo Credit: jsbarrie via flicker

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Stealth Wind Turbines - Using Composite Materials

As wind energy becomes more popular, the negatives of the massive installations needs to be addressed. Noise, bird/bat deaths, and unsightliness are common issues with large turbines. Another concern not commonly addressed is the interference with radar systems.

The fast moving composite blades can reflect radar and can appear and cause confusion with military and civilian radar. This could potentially cause serious problems in the future.

A recent article from Technology Review discusses how the wind industry is addressing these concerns. A new coating is being used on the towers to absorb radio frequencies, and playing with new combination of composite materials and plastics in the skin is allowing for radar absorption as well.

Three Words.... Fiber Reinforced Plastics!

I'm sure everyone has seen this before, but for anyone in the composite material or plastics industry, it is worth seeing again.

Plastic's and the Auto Market

Composites and plastics play a large role in each automobile. In fact, the American Chemistry Council (ACC) estimates that each automobile contains $2,200 dollars worth of chemistry. (ie composite resins, plastics, adhesives, rubber hoses, coatings, etc.) With the "Big 3" reporting 2008 demand dropped by 3 million vehicles, my calculations say that $6.6 BILLION less dollars of chemical based auto components were used in '08... Thats nothing to shake a stick at.

But, with darkness comes the hope of light. The demand for fuel efficiency only increasing, there is hope that more and more composite materials, plastics, and other lightweight chemical based products will replace steel and metal components in the future. And then there is hope, that the economny will turn around.

More info: Article by ICIS.com

Photo Credit: dougww via Flicker