(121d) Sustainable Green Composite Materials from Advanced Biocarbons: A Path Forward to Circular Bioeconomy

Lightweight green composites from renewable resources are attracting increased attention from the advanced manufacturing sectors recently. A strong momentum for weight reduction in auto parts is motivated by a need for better fuel economy. To increase renewable content in materials, we use thermo-chemical conversion (pyrolysis) of biomass/agri-food residues to overcome the key challenges associated with the use of traditional natural fibrers in melt processed biocomposites. Biocarbons obtained from inexpensive biomass, including farm wastes/residues, food processing wastes, and lignin show tremendous potential for affordable biocomposite materials. In addition, biocarbons have also been used effectively in composites with waste plastics. Overall, biocarbon composites can be very effective as one of the enabling strategies towards sustainable materials and a circular bioeconomy.

Acknowledgement: (i) the Ontario Research Fund, Research Excellence Program; Round 9 (ORF-RE09) Ontario Ministry of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade (Project Nos. 053970 and 054345); (ii) the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA)/University of Guelph – Bioeconomy for Industrial Uses Research Program (Project Nos. 030331, 030332); (iii) the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), Canada Research Chair (CRC) program Project No. 460788; and (iv) The NSERC,-Collaborative Research and Development Grants (CRD) Project No. 401637 with the partner industries Prism Farms Limited and Competitive Green Technologies, Lamington, Ontario, Canada.