Suspens - Design sustainable composites
Suspens - Design sustainable composites
Route traversant une forêt vue du ciel

About
Suspens

Environmental challenges

Composite materials, especially thermoplastic, are gradually becoming widespread in manufacturing sectors, thanks to their light weight. However, when using composites, the fossil origin of the raw materials cannot be ignored.
Another issue is the energy-intensive carbonization process needed to carbonise the precursor of carbon fibre.

Recently, an important R&D trend is replacing fossil-based thermoplastic by low environmental footprint thermoplastic, recycled or bio-sourced. This is where SUSPENS comes in, our ambition is providing to industry bio-sourced composites while ensuring that it will perform as well as conventional materials.

SUSPENS objectives

The SUSPENS project will develop over 95% bio-sourced epoxy and polyesters resins, with new formulations leading to high performance in a short cycle. These resins will be combined with sustainable reinforcements made with cellulose (wood fibre) lignin-based carbon fibre and recycled carbon and glass fibre to make sandwich and hollow parts for surface transport and aerospace industries.

Recycling solutions for such structures will also be developed in the project to cover the entire life cycle of the target applications. An innovative approach for a matrix pyrolysis will use the high temperature waste stream released by the carbon fibre transformation process to reduce drastically the energy consumption. In the meantime, a specific solvolysis will be developed to separate the biobased resins from the fibres.
The valorisation of oil and organic components generated will be studied to transform them into by-products.

The general project approach will be demonstrated through the manufacturing of three representative parts such as a car battery pack, a leisure boat deck and hull and an aircraft winglet.

SUSPENS research challenges

Develop up to 95% bio-sourced fast curing thermoset resin formulations

Increase mechanical properties of bio-sourced and recycle reinforcement fibres

Demonstrate lightweight, high performance and fully renewable composites and structures through 3 demo-cases

Optimise the manufacturing and recycling processes to reduce CO2 emissions of at least 20%

SUSPENS concept

Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

The SUSPENS project has received €4.9 million in funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement No. 101091906