10 March 2016
DETAILS
Carbon dioxide is being used ever more widely
as a novel raw material in plastics production.
As part of the “Production Dreams” project,
materials manufacturer Covestro is working with
RWTH Aachen University and
the Technical University of Berlin, both in Germany,
on a further process that will enable the greenhouse gas
to be used as well
in the environmentally friendly manufacture of elastomers
on an industrial scale.
Elastomers are plastics that hold their shape
but are elastically formable.
The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research
(BMBF) is providing funding
for the project of up to EUR 1.5 million
over the next three years as part of the “r+Impuls
– Impulse für industrielle Ressourceneffizienz”
(r+Impulse –impetus for industrial resource efficiency)
measure under the
“Research for Sustainable Development” (FONA³)
framework program.
Around 25% of oil can be replaced with CO2
Elastomers are normally made entirely from petroleum.
Now, some 25 percent of the oil used to manufacture
a precursor can be replaced with CO2.
The resulting polyether carbonate polyurethane
can be processed into elastomers.
Individual batches of the innovative material
have already been manufactured in the lab.
The focus is now on developing a continuous process
that will support cost-effective production on an industrial scale.
Dr. Jochen Norwig,
Project Manager
who works in catalysis research at Covestro in Leverkusen
“By participating in the BMBF Production Dreams collaboration,
we are redoubling our efforts to develop cost-effective
and climate-friendly production processes
that use CO2 as an element in high-performance plastics,”
WWW.CHEMWINFO.COM BY KHUN PHICHAI
