BIOPOL4MOTIVE approved: new foams for automotive

23/06/2021
Projects

A new Catalisti project has been approved by Flanders Innovation & Entrepreneurship (VLAIO). It's BIOPOL4MOTIVE or ‘Biobased polyols for flexible polyurethane foams in automotive applications’.

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Automotive

In a nutshell

This project will support car manufacturers and their suppliers in making polyurethane (PU) foams used in car acoustic interiors more sustainable. It will create two grades of PU systems, specifically developed for manufacturing flexible PU foams that can be used acoustic applications. Goal is to deliver a substantial biobased content without functional loss and at an attractive cost.

Sustainable PU foams

Due to their high performance at low weight and their competitive cost, PU foams are the material of choice for car acoustic interiors. Today, fossil-based methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) and polyols are used to produce these PU foams. As car manufacturers and their suppliers strive towards increased sustainability and a reduced CO2 footprint, they are looking for ways to incorporate more sustainable materials into their PU foams.

One such sustainable material is biobased polyol. Currently, however, the chemical structure, inconsistent quality and cost of bio-polyol are curtailing its full potential. PU foams containing more than 10% bio-polyols, for example, exhibit an immediate loss of functionality. To overcome this challenge and increase the amount of bio-polyols in PU foams, innovative solutions are needed.

New bio-polyols

BIOPOL4MOTIVE offers these solutions by developing new bio-polyols and modified MDI, targeting use in automotive acoustic applications. In practice, the project aims to create two grades of PU systems developed for manufacturing flexible PU foams (i.e. high-resilience and visco-elastic) with a substantial biobased content. This will be achieved by developing the bio-polyol polymer and the MDI pre-polymer including the bio-polyol, delivering the required biobased content without functional loss and at attractive cost.

Impact

The project will lead to a significant increase of sustainable content in PU-based car acoustic interiors, while preserving the use and production of light-weight, cost-competitive PU foams in the automotive value chain.