Biodegradable fabrics for cars

Europe's textiles and clothing industry maintains a world leadership position thanks to its creativity, innovation and incomparable sense of style. In the face of increasingly fierce global competition and low-wage manufacturing elsewhere, the continent's approximately 200 000 companies post an impressive annual turnover of EUR 215 billion. Of these, 95 % are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

With an increasing focus on environmental impact, particularly at the end of service life, the automotive industry is looking for an alternative to plastic textile components. A European consortium with textile expertise launched the EU-funded BIOFIBROCAR (Melt spun fibres based on compostable biopolymers for application in automotive interiors) project to deliver a solution.

Researchers are focusing on development of textiles from fibres made of polylactic acid (PLA) derivatives as a substitute for the conventional polyester fibres. PLA is a biodegradable thermoplastic polymer that comes from renewable sources such as corn starch or sugar cane.

The team plans to ensure that the new textiles meet all industry requirements. Scientists are paying careful attention to safety, thermal resistance, and minimisation of odour and volatile particle emission for vehicle interiors. Some nanoadditives will have intumescent properties, expanding in response to heat to protect the material underneath. Others will reduce or eliminate odours or make the textiles less abrasive to the skin.

Within the first project year, the consortium collected a variety of fabrics and fibres with the potential to meet automotive industry standards and have begun characterising them. In parallel, industry partners have provided valuable input to research partners regarding industrial processes such that the lab ones will be suitable for scale-up.

BIOFIBROCAR bio-derived textile technologies for the automotive industry will bring a welcome boost to partner SMEs in the compounding, additives, spinning and weaving/laminating sectors. They are likely to have more broad-reaching effects as well. The products should interest other transport sectors and the biodegradable fibres will help support recyclers in the long run too.