CIDETEC Surface Engineering embarks on the BioStruct project, which will promote the use of biocomposite materials in the maritime and wind industry

The aim is to promote a more sustainable industry and reduce dependence on materials from outside the European Union.

A hull for a six-meter-long electric boat and rotor blades for wind plants will be built using natural fibres and bio-based resins.

The use of carbon or glass fibre-based composites presents a number of difficulties in terms of recycling and dependence on third countries: 98% of these synthetic composites end up in landfills and nearly 80% of the raw materials are currently manufactured outside Europe. To reverse this situation, the BioStruct project aims to develop and validate new manufacturing processes for composites reinforced with natural fibres and bio-based resins.

Currently, these more sustainable materials are used in less critical applications that do not require high performance in terms of mechanical performance. To give new qualities to the new composites, a precise draping process will be developed to control the orientation of the fibres, creating material models that detect the natural variability of the material and integrating bio-based nanostructured sensors for load control.

In this line, CIDETEC Surface Engineering is working on a bio-based disassemblable epoxy adhesive, thanks to its patented 3R technology (recyclable, repairable and reprocessable) that will facilitate the recycling of materials. The Vigo-based company Amura will use the adhesive for the construction of a six-metre electric propulsion boat hull. Another use case of the project will involve the construction of full-size rotor blades for wind power plants.

BioStruct, funded by the Horizon Europe initiative with eight million euros and led by Profactor (Austria), envisages a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of between 2.5 and 4.3 million tonnes of CO2 per year through the use of biocomposite materials.

Along with CIDETEC Surface Engineering and Amura, Abele Ingenieure (Germany), Bladeworks (Italy), Enginsoft (Italy), Ideko (Spain), Lumoscribe (Cyprus), NOMA Resins (Poland) and Techtera (France) are participating in the project.