Natural fibres | reinforcements
Natural fibres
aim to compete
Whatever their environmental benefits, thermoplastic
compounds incorporating natural fibres and fillers are
unlikely to succeed unless they can compete head-on
with more traditional compounds. That is a reality that
is recognised by many of the major players in the sector
and a great deal of development work is underway with
the aim of meeting the goals of cost and performance
competitiveness. This article takes a look at some of the
most recent initiatives.
A. Schulman is one of a growing number of major
compounders involved in the development of compounds
containing natural fibres. The company has a range of
compounds in its AgriPlas product line, which was
developed from a consortium of companies and academ-
ia initially funded from the Ontario Bio Council. Target
markets and applications for the products include
automotive, industrial, consumer goods, recreation, lawn
and garden, furniture, and packaging. To date, the most
high-profile application for AgriPlas is the Ford Flex third
row compartment bin, which has been in production for
several years using a compound based on wheat straw
reinforcement. There is also a smaller commercial
application for production of flower box containers, says
Product Manager Paul Hardy, who admits volumes at
present are modest but says that could change soon.
Schulman continues to look at other natural fibres
and alternative renewable fillers for thermoplastics.
Hardy cites oat hulls, rice hulls (the company has
developed a 70% rice hull filled LLDPE masterbatch
www.compoundingworld.com
Producers of natural fibres and
compounds are striving to deliver
performance that can match
traditional plastics. Peter Mapleston
finds out more about that work
claimed to offer the highest loading to date), treated and Main image:
coated wood chips, and even shredded US bank notes; Wheat straw is
material is dried and then treated for better perfor- one of a
mance, enabling it to withstand the higher melt temper- number of
atures of polymers such as ABS. Soy meal also looks natural fibres
like an attractive option and Schulman has developed under exami-
an additive technology to exfoliate the soy meal during nation as a
compounding. potential
In a development related to its work on soy meal- bio-based filler
based compounds, Schulman has worked closely with for plastics
Biobent Polymers, a start-up concentrating solely on
bio-composites. Biobent Polymers was created to
commercialise compounds based on a novel biocom-
posite polymer developed by Battelle Memorial Institute
in a project funded by the Ohio Soybean Council and
United Soybean Board (a division of the US Department
of Agriculture). Biobent Polymers has an exclusive
▲
worldwide licence for this technology.
March 2016 | COMPOUNDING WORLD 39
 reinforcements | Natural fibres
Right: Biobent The basis for the Battelle patents relates to protein
Polymer is crosslinking. “Once we determined the optimum
developing amount of protein-carbohydrates-cellulose in soy, we
bio-composites went looking for other bio-feedstocks that had similar
based on fillers properties,” says Biobent founder Keith Masavage. “To
produced from date we have successfully deployed our process using
soybeans using soy, agave, canola, and algae. Some feedstocks are
Batelle naturally very dark, such as canola and algae, so they
technology are not usable for light, translucent or coloured
bioplastics. But they are excellent for black plastics and
produce nearly jet black compounds, with no additional
colorant. All compounds have a bio-based content
ranging from 10%-40% or more, and are produced
using reactive extrusion,” he says.
“We discovered after working with Schulman for quite
some time that they also required a ‘secret sauce’ for
their AgriPlas product. So, we tried it and it worked. It
turns out that for different reasons, their additive package
had most of the same ingredients as ours. We had been
using them all separately in the extrusion process, while
Schulman had masterbatched them into a single pellet.
When we go to production, our plan is to have Schulman
produce a custom masterbatch bio-stabilizer pellet that
we can use in our production process. This will also be
key to sublicensing,” Masavage says.
Schulman continues to support Biobent customer
tests and trials and “has been a tremendously helpful
resource,” according to Masavage. Biobent has also
worked with several other major compounders,
including PolyOne and Ovation Polymers.
Masavage says Biobent has used toll facilities for
much of its development work to date. “A lot of our
capacity and most of our trials were actually done at
equipment manufacturers’ facilities like Steer America,
Below: NFM and Berstorff,” he says. “We have qualified two toll
Biobent’s compounders who have a capacity of over 20m pounds/
soybean filled year (around 9000 tonnes) available, but the economics
bio-composites are not affordable for profitable production. We will have
are readily a 20-25m pounds/year capacity online by Oct 2016.”
coloured Biobent plans to sell its bio-composites through
40 compounding world | March 2016
major distributors. Masavage says the company is
currently negotiating a strategic partnership with
Schulman. “As the technology matures, Biobent will
develop a revenue stream through sub-licensing our
technology,” Masavage says, adding that potential licen-
sees are likely to include other compounders and
polymer manufacturers.
A ‘hybrid’ option is also under consideration for
non-licenced customers with volume requirements of
more than 10,000 tonnes/year that do not want to be in
the compounding business. Here, Biobent would build a
production line at the customer’s manufacturing facility.
“They would pay for all capital expenditures but we
would provide the expertise and personnel,” Masavage
says. He calculates a production line investment of
around $2m would pay for itself in less than 18 months.
Biobent’s original focus was on compounds based on
polypropylene. Since 2012, however, it has adapted its
process to work with other polyolefins and also various
plastics made from renewable resources. It is also
expanding the technology to work with styrenics and
PVC. “We convert the customer’s current base resin into
a bio-composite that is essentially a drop-in replace-
ment,” Masavage says.
Masavage is clear that modern bioplastic and
bio-composite materials must be competitive with
current available traditional plastics. “Henry Ford had a
soy-based bumper on a car in 1930,” he notes. “Yet 86
years later bioplastics hold less than a 1% market
share. The reasons are simple: today’s bioplastics
(Biobent excluded) have poor performance and they
cost 50%-100% more than their petroleum-based
equivalent. The pent-up demand for bioplastics is huge,
but the vast majority of manufacturers will not switch if
mechanical or operational performance is compro-
mised or if it costs more.”
Processing of bio-feedstocks is the primary reason
that bioplastics are expensive, he says. “Whether you’re
milling meals, feeding microbes oils (PHA), processing
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 reinforcements | Natural fibres
Right: Shives starches (PLA) or fermenting sugarcane (PE), bio-feed-
produced stock processing is critically important.”
from the Biobent claims that its bio-feedstocks are not just
woody stalks fillers. “Our core technology is based on our ability to
of flax plants crosslink the bio-feedstock to the polymer chain. By
are being doing so, we ‘inherit’ the vast majority of the base
evaluated as resin’s mechanical properties. We’re not trying to make
a potential a better plastic but simply a bioplastic that does not
plastics compromise performance. By replacing 30%-40% of a
filler petroleum-based thermoplastic resin with a bio-feed-
stock costing as little as 10% of the polymer that it is
replacing, Biobent is able to offer our customers
savings that range from 2%-18%, or even more.”
Masavage says more than 150 major consumer
product manufacturers have already made contact with
Biobent, including some Fortune 100 companies. “We
are currently actively engaged in specific projects with
approximately 15 of these market leaders,” he says.
“Together, these projects represent an annual volume
in excess of 100m pounds (45,000 tonnes). Biobent
expects to grow from under 5,000 pounds in 2014 to
more than 600,000,000 pounds in 2019.”
Echoing Masavage’s argument on costs is Marek
Radwański at Polish fibre producer Ekotex. Costs are
particularly critical for producers of bio-composites and
their suppliers, since the supply of the feedstock is more
variable than it is with more industrial products such as
glass. Users also have to compete with other organisa-
tions looking to explore “green” sourcing chains.
“Nowadays, there is very high request for flax fibres
for textiles,” says Radwański, who adds that prices of
the fibres have, as a result, increased sharply. “There-
fore, we postponed our research on flax fibres for
compounding, but we did not stop our R&D activity. Now
we are looking for applications for flax shives. I hope to
Below: A replace wood flour used for some WPC using our flax
modular shives,” he says.
bio-feedstock Shives are the wooden parts of the flax stalk created
processing and as waste from flax fibre production. Krzysztof Bujnow-
compounding icz, Head of the Flammability Laboratory in the
line by Biobent Department of Innovative Biomaterials and Nanotech-
42 compounding world | March 2016
nology at the IWNiRZ (Institute of Natural fibres and
Medicinal Plants) in Poznań, Poland, has been re-
searching the performance of PP compounds contain-
ing lignocellulosic flax and hemp shives. In particular,
the work has focused on improving compatibility of the
natural filler with the polymer.
Bujnowicz says the distribution of the natural filler
and the interaction between it and the matrix polymer is
the most important factor influencing the mechanical
performance of the compound. The hydrophilic nature
of the lignocellulosic filler and the non-polar character-
istics of the PP makes compounding difficult. In
addition, the large size and porosity of the natural filler
particles means they tend to act a defects in the
composite structure.
The research looked at the effect of using maleic
anhydride grafted PP as a coupling agent in PP
compounds containing 20 and 30% flax and hemp
shives. Compounding was carried out on a Leistritz twin
screw extruder, with test specimens injection moulded.
Interfacial adhesion between the matrix and filler was
assessed by measurement of tensile strength. Bujnow-
icz says it was shown that the coupling agent effectively
improves adhesion between the polymer and the filler, a
finding confirmed by scanning electron microscopy
images of the interface.
In October last year PolyOne unveiled new colour
and extrusion options within its reSound NF Natural
Fibre Reinforced Composites portfolio. Holger Kroni-
mus, VP Europe and General Manager at PolyOne
Specialty Engineered Materials, says the new options
were developed “to offer non-automotive customers the
flexibility and aesthetics they need while maintaining
performance and ease of processing.” Colours include
beige, copper, terra cotta, green, blue and black hues.
The extrusion grades, meanwhile, are intended to
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 reinforcements | Natural fibres

Right: SEM
images of PP/
hemp shive
composite with
a maleic
anhydride
grafted PP
coupling agent
Source: IWNiRZ

expand the use of reSound in building and construction,
sports and leisure, and furniture manufacturing.
The coloured compounds were developed as part of
the Divergent Desires collection for PolyOne’s InVisiO
colour and design service. PolyOne says they “explore
the convergence of technology and nature,” helping
manufacturers achieve their often-conflicting desire for
lighter weight parts that still deliver good performance.
Formulations are designed to limit the impact of the
pigments on mechanical properties.
PolyOne says that, compared to other natural fibre
reinforced solutions, reSound NF materials offer
mechanical property improvements of more than 20%
for tensile and flexural properties, 10°C to 20°C higher
heat deflection temperature, and an increase of more
than 50% in impact strength. According to the company,
independent testing has shown that reSound NF
formulations offer equivalent performance to short
glass fibre reinforced alternative, at a 5-10% lower
density. Compounds are compatible with physical and
chemical foaming processes.
Recycling tests show very stable performance
Right: Poly-
One’s reSound
NF natural
fibre com-
pounds can
now be
supplied in
black and
coloured
versions
compared with short glass fibre compounds, PolyOne
says. “It seems the limitation in the on-line re-introduc-
tion of reground PP-SGF into the manufacturing
process does not apply to reSound NF material, which
offers a potential ‘no scrap’ process for manufacturers,”
according to Jason Eckel, Global Marketing Director,
Specialty Engineered Materials at the company.
Polymer compounder, So.F.Ter, says its Polifor NF
product line, which is based on polypropylene reinforced
with natural fibres, “offers sustainability, lightness and
improved performance for a wide range of industries,
from automotive to design.” So.F.Ter uses various
bio-based fillers in its compounds. These are sourced
from FSC or PEFC certified cultivation, which So.F.Ter
notes “adopt responsible management systems which
have no negative impact on the environment, territory
and local communities.” The compounds offer the same
rigidity as polypropylene compounds with an equivalent
percentage of talc but are much lighter because of
lower density (-8%), provide better resistance to high
temperatures (+ 17%) and offer a significantly higher
impact resistance (up to + 67% in the notched Izod test).
The company is eyeing the automotive industry in
particular. It says possible applications include interior
and exterior parts, both structural and aesthetic.
Examples include cowl vent grilles, internal consoles
and pillars, structural dashboard carriers and various
parts of the luggage compartment. With their ability to
withstand operating temperatures up to 110-120°C, the
compounds can also be used for under-the-hood
applications such as the air filter box.
It is not just crops grown on land that are being
considered for use in plastics compounds. Algae
technology company Algix has partnered with the
University of Georgia and Kimberly-Clark to commer-
cialise the cultivation of aquatic biomass as a feedstock
for bio-based plastics compounds. It uses mobile algae
harvesting platforms and downstream dewatering,
drying and jet milling operations to produce dry algae
biomass in free-flowing granules that are then com-

44 compounding world | March 2016 www.compoundingworld.com


pounded with thermoplastics.
Ryan Hunt, CTO at Algix, says the company com-
pounds the algae with different polymers together with
compatibilizing agents and other bio-based additives. It
is already offering Solaplast compounds based on
biodegradable polyester resins such as NatureWorks’
PLA and BASF’s Ecoflex PBAT, and also on fossil-based
plastics (including polypropylene, polyethylene, EVA and
polystyrene). All contain at least 40% algae. Properties
are said to be suitable for a variety of end-use applica-
tions, including cosmetic containers, packaging, and
horticultural/agricultural products, as well as film,
sheet and non-wovens. Currently, the two most
important applications are foreseen in extruded
EVA-based foams for use in footwear, and PLA-based
compounds for 3D printing. Solaplast compounds can
be used directly or as a masterbatch.
Algix has been producing compounds on a single
compounding line based on a 73-mm extruder at a
facility at Meridian, in Mississippi in the US. It is now in
the process of setting up a second operation in China,
which will become the company’s main production site
and will free up the Meridian equipment for more
development work. Hunt says the new joint venture
Algix Wuxi Technology Company is set to start com-
pounding in August. The company is located close to a
major source of algae that is growing in local lakes and
is currently being land-filled.
Belgian compounding company Beologic specialises
in the production of compounds based on natural fibres
or mineral fillers. With an installed compounding
capacity of 20,000 tonnes/year split over 12 production
lines, Beologic claims to be one of the most important
suppliers in the sector. Project and Sales Manager Alex
Beyls says the company’s product portfolio contains
more than 600 formulations, all customised to customer
requirements. He says Beologic can deliver compounds
for almost all polymer processes, including 3D printing.
“Popular natural fibres are wood and rice due to
their low price:property ratio, but we see an increase in
demand for flax/hemp and cellulose to be used in more
technical applications,” he says. For applications where
aesthetics are particularly important, Beyls sees cork
and cotton fibres gaining popularity.
Beologic is one of several partners in the European
Union-sponsored HIVENT research project
(www.hifiventproject.eu), which has the aim of develop-
ing durable, fire-resistant ventilated façades in WPC
that can be used in building retrofit. Results of the
project are due to be presented at the AMI Wood-Plastic
Composites 2016 conference in Vienna in early March by
Arne Schirp, Project Leader at the Fraunhofer Institute
for Wood Research (WKI), which is another partner in
www.compoundingworld.com 
Natural fibres | reinforcements
the project. WKI Fraunhofer develops wood-plastics
composite (WPC) formulations for various applications.
Researchers in another Fraunhofer WKI project are
investigating chemical foaming of WPC for injection
moulding and profile extrusion, with the aim to develop a
novel type of beehive as a substitute for the current types
built using timber or 100% expanded polystyrene. Each of
these traditional materials has its advantages but also
some drawbacks - the foamed WPC is said to combine
advantages of both timber and polystyrene. In particular,
it offers 3D design opportunities, good insulation, weight
reduction, durability, low maintenance, recyclability and
employs sustainable raw materials. While the develop-
ment project is focused on beehives, the technology is
not limited to this application.
Fraunhofer WKI cooperates with the University of Above:
Applied Sciences in Osnabruck, Naftex and Georg Utz. It Samples of
has available a variety of equipment to develop and test Solaplast algae
WPCs according to the needs of the industry, says containing
Schirp. A co-rotating extruder, equipped with an polymers from
underwater granulation system and optional air Algix
granulation, can be used for formulation development.
This equipment has been modified to accommodate
processing of highly filled WPC formulations with
difficult flow behaviour. Compounds can be further
processed using profile extrusion, injection moulding
and hot-pressing.
Another EU project looking into thermoplastic
biocomposites is Naturtruck (www.naturtruck.eu) (see
Compounding World June 2015). Within this project,
Aimplas, the institute of plastic materials in Spain, is
developing completely bio-based automotive parts in
collaboration with CTAG (Automotive Centre of Galicia in
Spain), IWNiRZ, six SME’s from Europe and Turkey, and
truck manufacturer Volvo. The aim of the project is to
develop thermoplastic biocomposites from polylactic
acid (PLA) and natural fibres with high heat and fire
resistance to replace polymers such as ABS for interior
s
parts used in truck cabins.
March 2016 | compounding world 45
 reinforcements | Natural fibres
Right: An During the past year, IWNiRZ has developed a special
injection fibre treatment for hemp fibres. This involves the
moulded truck surface treatment of osmotic degummed fibres
foot rest combined with silanisation in the presence of two flame
produced as retardant additives and a plasma treatment. This
part of the modification results in a reduction of the
Naturtruck flammability of the hemp fibres by 40%
programme in measured by maximum heat release rate (HRR
PLA/hemp max). The treatment process was scaled up to 20kg of
bio-composite treated fibres that were pelletized afterwards by
Aimplas and project partner, BaVe Badische Faservere-
delung, a specialist in the pelletizing of natural fibres
(BaVe is also involved in the HIFIVENT project).
Aimplas has continued the development of flame
and heat resistant PLA/hemp biocomposites using
BaVe’s pelletized hemp fibres and ammonium
polyphosphate flame retardant. In order to improve the
crystallization rate of the PLA (necessary to achieve the
required high heat deflection temperatures) and to
maintain the impact strength of the biocomposites, a
combination of bioplasticizer, nucleating agent, and
impact modifier additives were used.
Miguel Angel Valera, Senior Polymeric Researcher
at Aimplas, says that the biocomposites it developed
fulfilled the mechanical and HDT requirements of Volvo,
showing Charpy impact strength values of 23kJ/m2 and
HDT(B) of 120°C after annealing. The annealing
treatment was carried out by heating the parts in a
continuous infrared oven for 90s and then leaving them
to crystallise at room temperature. The biocomposites
were also classified as HB according to the UL94
flammability standard.
CTAG finished and adapted the prototype moulds and
Below: parts to be used in the interior of the cabin trucks for the
Granules of Naturtruck biocomposites, and also optimised the
PLA/hemp injection moulding process. The injectability of the
biocomposite biocomposites was shown to be superior to commercial
produced for ABS and ABS/PC blends currently used in the automotive
the NaturTruck sector, Valera says. Small series of two case studies, a
project bracket and a foot rest, were injection moulded as
46 COMPOUNDING WORLD | March 2016
project demonstrators.
Compounding equipment producer Steer
believes the day is not far away when jute will find its
way into the production of under-the-hood automobile
parts such as air intake manifolds, radiator end-caps,
fans and shrouds, housing construction materials, and
even microwavable cooking containers. Last November,
it announced the development and availability of
technology to process jute-filled polypropylene
compounds that promises the ability to replace
minerals and fibres and help reduce product cost,
density and carbon footprint, while improving product
performance.
Speaking about the advance, Steer founder and
Managing Director Babu Padmanabhan said company
scientists have developed jute-filled PP compounds
incorporating up to 50% by weight of jute utilising its
co-rotating twin-screw platform technology with special
patented fractional-lobe elements. “The new material
has formidable advantages – it is strong, flexible, and
heat-resistant, not to mention that it is also an
economical, lighter and eco-friendly reinforcing agent
for plastics,” he says.
“There is a potential for a new sunrise industry to
emerge, creating thousands of jobs, especially in jute
rich resource states,” claims Padmanabhan. “Jute
polymers, if promoted aggressively by the government
and the industry, can have a ripple effect not only on the
beleaguered jute sector, but the entire Indian economy
by opening up a huge market opportunity for an
industry that has historically been low on added value.”
India is one of the largest producers of jute in the world.
Click on the links for more information:
❙ www.aschulman.com
❙ www.biobent.com
❙ www.ekotex.pl
❙ www.iwnirz.pl
❙ www.polyone.com
❙ www.softergroup.com
❙ http://algix.com
❙ www.beologic.com
❙ www.fraunhofer.de
❙ www.aimplas.es
❙ www.steerworld.com
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