Huntsman: Participation in Biopol4motive project to help deliver bio-based polyols for automotive
Huntsman announced that it is working with Catalisti – the spearhead cluster that accelerates innovation in chemistry and plastics by building partnerships between companies, universities, research institutions, associations and governments in Flanders, Belgium. The company has joined Biopol4motive, one of Catalisti’s high-impact innovation projects. The aim of Biopol4motive is to make polyurethane foams for use in car acoustic interiors more sustainable by incorporating more bio-based content.
Through its Biopol4motive project, Catalisti has brought together Autoneum, the leading supplier of lightweight acoustic and thermal management solutions for vehicles, Huntsman, and Oleon – one of the leading producers of oleochemicals. Together, the three companies will create new grades of acoustic PU foam for automotive applications that will deliver a substantial level of bio-based content, without any functional loss, at an attractive price point. This project demonstrates the close cooperation needed across the automotive value chain to reach the ambitious sustainability goals of global automotive customers, said Huntsman.
PU foams are already the material of choice for car acoustic interiors due to their high performance at low weight and their competitive cost. As car manufacturers and their suppliers strive towards increased sustainability and seek to achieve a reduced CO2 footprint, they are looking for ways to incorporate more sustainable materials into their PU foams. One such way is to use bio-based polyols. However, the chemical structure, inconsistent quality and cost of bio-polyols is currently curtailing their full potential. PU foams containing more than 10 % bio-polyols typically tend to exhibit an immediate loss of functionality.
Biopol4motive will work to overcome this challenge – focusing specifically on the manufacture of flexible PU foams, e.g., high resilience and visco-elastic solutions. The project is the first cluster initiative of its kind to be awarded the Bioeconomy Label in the framework of the Flemish Government’s policy plan for the bioeconomy. Biopol4motive is due to run until the end of 2023, with key project milestones announced at intervals as appropriate.
URL: https://www.gupta-verlag.com/news/industry/25745/huntsman-participation-in-biopol4motive-project-to-help-deliver-bio-based-polyols-for-automotive