Bio-Composites

- the Miracle ­Material of the Future?

A selection of material samples give an impression of the wide diversity of expressions and possibilities offered by the bio-composites, where textiles are encapsulated in biosynthetic PLA-polyester. Another advantage of the bio-composites is that the underlying technology is not particular costly or complicated.
Photo: Louise Ravnløkke Munk Petersen

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Bio-composites are incredibly diverse and have great aesthetic potential as well as a variety of eco-friendly qualities. Bio-composites are materials composed of biological fibres and a bio-degradable type of plastic: PLA. Bio-composites are not a new invention, but their design potential is expanding as they are being used for new purposes and in new contexts. A project at the Kolding School of Design examined the feasibility of using bio-composites for wall and ceiling panels in the “super hospitals” that are currently on the drawing board around the country.

By Trine Vu and Anna Krarup Jensen

It is pretty, but it feels strange and surprising to the touch. One sees the textiles with their print patterns and their knit and woven structures. That gives the impression of something soft, but in fact the material is hard and transparent.

Textile and design engineer Karen Marie Hasling has a whole range of samples that combine textile and biosynthetic PLA polyester, and she is excited about the huge design potential in putting bio-composite materials to new uses. These possibilities are demonstrated in the project ‘Grønne’ biokompositter til lofts- og vægelementer – en undersøgelse af funktionelle og æstetiske potentialer (‘Green’ bio-composites for ceiling and wall elements – a study of functional and aesthetic potentials). The project received support from the Danish Centre for Design Research and was carried out by textile engineer Karen Marie Hasling, Associate Professor Joy Boutrup, Kolding School of Design and textile designer and Associate Professor Vibeke Riisberg, also Kolding School of Design.

On 23 February 2011, the Kolding School of Design held a seminar about the project, and here the material samples were a key ingredient in the efforts to convey the potential of bio-composites to designers, architects and engineers.

Textiles have very good light-screening properties, and encapsulating the textiles in hard polyester increases the design potential of the material, partly because it makes the fabric easier to clean. Photo: Karen Marie Hasling

Versatility

Fibre composites are materials made up of plastic and multiple types of fibres. Composites using fibre glass, carbon fibre or, for example, Kevlar in combination with various types of plastic are already in use in industry, for example in cars, aeroplanes and windmill wings, because the fibres imbue the material with tremendous strength.
These composites vary in environmental impact. Bio-composites are a type of fibre composites that combine bio-degradable fibres with a type of biosynthetic plastic. The term biosynthetic means that the plastic is made of crops by means of micro-organisms such as fungi or bacteria.
“The material has amazing versatility, and if it becomes accessible enough, it will play a key role in the future. Among other things, it can be used to create great architecture, furniture and interiors. Architects and designers are going to love it,” says Karen Marie Hasling.

New Aesthetic Possibilities

She explains that the design can both become more dynamic and take on a wide range of expressions, because the material makes it possible to achieve soft, double-curvature shapes, a variety of textures and visual effects.

As a textile and design engineer, Karen Marie Hasling has a special interest in textiles, and she has worked in particular with the use of textiles in construction materials such as wall and ceiling elements for hospitals. Joy Boutrup and Vibeke Riisberg’s work includes the use of textiles for light screening, and here, the transparent bio-composites enable new aesthetic possibilities:
“Textiles are great for light screening, because they enable unique forms of light diffusion. The problem with textiles is that they have to be maintained, which is labour-intensive. That makes it a challenge to meet the hospitals’ hygiene requirements, especially in the bed wards. By encapsulating the textiles in clear PLA, we may be able to solve that problem, because the surface becomes slick and easy to clean. At the same time, it would preserve the textile qualities with regard to light diffusion,” says Joy Boutrup, who expects that bio-composites will play a growing role in design in the future.

Mobile Phones Made of PLA

There is still some way to go, however, before the combination of PLA and textiles receives the final seal of approval as the miracle material of the future.
“Combining PLA with bio-degradable fibres gives us a very interesting range of materials, but the results are almost too good to be true. Therefore, we need more research before we can be certain that the materials meet the high requirements that characterise the hospital context,” says Vibeke Riisberg and explains that in addition to requirements related to hygiene and cleaning, there are also requirements concerning strength, light resistance, fire safety and, not least, aging properties.
“Japan has progressed far with the use of PLA. The Japanese are already using it for mobile phones, and computers are next,” says Joy Boutrup.

The Japanese company Teijin has spearheaded a new method that makes it possible to break PLA down to its basic components, which enables 100 percent recyclability. The fact that the bio-composite can be recycled makes it particularly interesting for future uses.
“There’s no doubt that materials with a sustainable profile will be essential in the future. Another benefit of the bio-composites is that that the technology itself is neither particularly costly nor complicated,” says Karen Marie Hasling.

They look soft, but they are in fact hard. The material samples had a magnetic pull on the audience when the team behind the "Green Bio-Composites" presented them in their seminar on the design potentials of polyester in late February. Photo: Karen Marie Hasling

Recycling Requires Innovation

With regard to recycling, however, Teijin’s most advanced results are with another and more common type of polyester, PET. In cooperation with a wide range of companies that make products based on PET, Teijin has established a contract system. Subscribers to the system can return the discarded materials, which will then be incorporated into Teijin’s cradle-to-cradle production of PET.

As mentioned earlier, a system for recycling PLA is a technical possibility, but it has not yet been implemented on a large scale. It would take a certain amount of commercial PLA products in the market for recycling to be economically viable.
“Recycling is great for the environment, but it also requires designers to think differently. Therefore, our project on green bio-composites is presented as part of a course where design students learn to incorporate recycling into their design solutions,” says Joy Boutrup and continues:
“The sore point with regard to recycling is always how to motivate the users to return the discarded items. It does little good that the materials can be recycled if they’re not collected. Another aspect is that, to be recycled the material mustn’t be mixed up with components that can’t be included in the recycling process – that’s something that designers and manufacturers have to consider in their products. You can’t recycle clothes made of PLA if they’re full of press buttons made in a different material.”
Joy Boutrup mentions that one of the solutions that the students are exploring as a means of motivating recycling is to have people to rent items instead of buying them.

The Hospital Seal of Approval

The use of bio-composites benefits the global environment, because it reduces both CO2 emissions and the use of fossil fuels. This is in part because the materials can be broken down, which minimises the environmental impact, and in part because they are not based on fossil fuels but on biological fibres and bio-synthetic PLA. Another positive property is that bio-composites are completely non-toxic and thus good for the indoor climate.
“Hospitals and many other buildings have major indoor climate problems because many construction materials give off toxins. Bio-composites consist of natural materials that neither contain nor emit harmful substances – and for that reason alone they’re good for the indoor climate,” says Karen Marie Hasling and explains that the project is aimed at the hospital sector because there are plans to build several new hospitals where the new materials might prove relevant.

Another advantage of introducing the new materials in hospitals first is that no other setting has higher requirements with regard to indoor climate, durability and hygiene. Thus, if the materials receive the seal of approval for use in hospitals, they should be applicable in any other type of public or private building.

Furthermore, there is a societal aspect in creating new design solutions for hospitals that match the philosophy of social and environmental sustainability which the Kolding School of Design has made a top priority.

For now, however, the design researchers are simply hoping to be able to continue their work with the amazing bio-composites, so that we can enjoy the benefits of new uses of bio-composites in the not too distant future.