FineCell has observed the possibility to fibrillate the company’s microcellulose powder to nano cellulose in situ when processing it together with thermoplastics. The current project proposal aims to investigate this fibrillation and identify processes and parameters that favor this fibrillation and create a composite reinforced with nanocellulose. By reinforcing thermoplastics with nanocellulose, it is possible to drastically increase the mechanical properties of the material, which enables lightweight composites, and in cases where recycled plastics or bioplastics are used, it is possible to make them competitive with conventional fossil plastics. Making composites using nanocellulose is difficult, mainly because nanocellulose is manufactured as water-based gels. By using FineCell’s dry microcellulose powder instead, it becomes possible to efficiently manufacture composites with superior mechanical properties, without having to handle components containing large amounts of water.
Participants
FineCell Sweden AB, RISE SICOMP AB and Örebro University.
Budget and time plan
The project’s total budget is 1 MSEK and the projects runs during six months between November 2021 and May 2022.