At the upcoming JEC World, the leading composites trade show organized by the JEC, the world’s most prominent organization for the composites industry, the Saxon Textile Research Institute (STFI) will be exhibiting various innovations focused on the theme of resource efficiency.

At the show, which takes place in Paris Nord Villepinte from March 8th-10th, STFI is taking part in the “Sachsen live“ joint booth organized by the Saxony Economic Development Corporation, a government enterprise tasked with the economic promotion of Saxony for business and industry.

On display will be the recyclable biobased composites developed for the automotive industry within the scope of the EU BIOFIBROCAR project. Nine European research partners, including STFI, collaborated on this project, with as aim to substitute the polyester and polypropylene fibers currently applied in car interiors by a single type of fiber. The idea was that, because composites made of different materials pose a huge challenge to recyclers, to use pure, unmixed materials instead. In the project, the conventionally used fibers were replaced by PLA fibers.

The use of special additives resulted in defined improvements of a number of properties, such as abrasion resistance, light fastness and flame retardancy, all of which are vital with regard to the materials parameters demanded by the car industry. Moreover, PLA fibers with specifically adjusted melting points made it possible for technologies to be applied that are generally used in the production of molded components.

The institute will also be presenting its latest concepts on recycling of carbon fibers at the show. As the use of carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) in lightweight structures continues to gain momentum, the amount of generated production waste has also proliferated. In an effort to reprocess and recycle this waste, STFI has successfully developed technology to produce nonwovens made of recycled carbon staple fibers and processed by carding technology. The initial results of this research included the formation of a web from 100 % carbon fiber or blends with other staple fibers and a subsequent inline bonding of the textile fabrics.(KL)

http://www.stfi.de/en/aktuell