Boosting sustainability with biobased resins composites for space applications
Have you ever considered how the waste we produce could become essential materials for our future in space? Imagine the possibility of a discarded orange peel becoming part of a satellite orbiting the Earth. This innovative reality is being studied through a co-sponsored research activity, where a team of researchers used various types of industrial waste to develop 100% bio-sourced materials. This project, part of the Discovery and Preparation elements of ESA's Basic Activities and submitted via the Open Space Innovation Platform (OSIP), supports a more sustainable space industry by using waste sources and a circular economy approach.
Used everywhere from sports equipment to dentistry, construction to airplanes, composites are key materials of modern life. Exceptionally strong and resistant to corrosion, these materials are typically lightweight and can be moulded into nearly any shape imaginable. The winning features of composites make them vital elements of space missions as well.
But they also have some less desirable features. Most of current composites are made from petroleum products, so they are manufactured from non-renewable materials, producing huge quantities of non-recyclable and polluting waste at the end of their lifespan. Moreover, petroleum-based molecules used to produce composites can be dangerous for human health, causing contact dermatitis, allergic reactions, as well as respiratory problems, and being in some cases cancerogenic.
To tackle this issue, ESA has worked with Côte D’Azur University to develop a novel class of composites crafted entirely from bio-sourced materials derived from sustainable sources.
The "100% Biobased Thermosets With High Performances For Structural Materials And Composites For Space Application" project was submitted through the Open Discovery Ideas Channel (OSIP) and implemented through ESA Discovery and Preparation elements. The cooperation takes the form of co-sponsored PhD and a post-Doctorate research.
"The collaboration with ESA has been very fruitful," says Professor Alice Mija of the Nice Institute of Chemistry (ICN) at Côte D'Azur University in France. "We brought together a wide range of different competencies and expertise, resulting in a really creative and constructive collaboration and a great human exchange."
Looking for better alternatives to petroleum products
Composites are made combining together two or more separate materials to obtain the desired physical characteristics.
The most robust composites are 'thermosets', which are made from different kind of resins mixed with fibres or fillers to add strength. Unfortunately, the resins and fillers ingredients are usually petroleum derived.
To reduce the use of petroleum and produce sustainable and eco-friendly composites, the team focused on biomass to replace petroleum sources. Bio-based materials are already used in some applications, but this project went even further with a great challenge and innovation.
"We didn't want to grow new crops for this specific purpose, but we wanted to use what already exists in nature or what is already existing as waste," explains ESA materials engineer Ugo Lafont. The team used many different waste materials, from industrial byproducts such as sawdust and the peels of various fruits and vegetables, to naturally occurring waste like brown algae deposited by the sea along coastal areas.
To reduce even more the environmental impact, the waste sources were selected from short-distance places to minimize the carbon footprint during the transportation to the laboratories.
Assembling the bio-bricks
The building blocks molecules from natural resources can be combined together in various ways, to produce polymers and materials with the desired performances. "We can obtain different properties in the final bioresins and composites, such as thermal resistance, high toughness, and so on," explains Ugo.
"It is like an architectural design," explains Alice, "each molecular brick and each bond is important. Diverse molecular geometry and reactivity, different chemical pathway will conduct to various networking designs that finally lead to different properties as well as a tower is different from an amphitheatre even if they are made with the same kind of bricks."
The team successfully developed 100% biobased epoxy resins used for high-performant composites development. "We really pushed the boundaries of material science, developing innovative composites based on waste, which meet the requirements for space applications," says Alice.
Why bio-sourced composites for space applications?
"We should be more responsible with space," says Alice. "A more sustainable space industry is of major importance to avoid the pollution of space environments as well as of our home planet."
Meeting the requirements for space applications is a challenge and an opportunity at the same time. Space is in fact an extremely inhospitable environment, so if the new developed sustainable composites could be used in space, they will be easily used on Earth for several applications.
The space-qualification tests have been conducted by using project's specialist facilities at ESA's ESTEC technical Centre in the Netherlands as well as Thales Alenia Space in Cannes, a near neighbour of ICN - Côte D'Azur University.
Reuse, Recycle and Repair
Composites based on 100% bioresins can definitely boost sustainability and the team has explored reuse possibilities and recycling solutions to achieve the so-called '3 Rs' – reuse, recycle and repair.
While usual composites are not reusable, recyclable and repairable, biobased composites are special in this regard. With a nontoxic solution, researchers chemically recycled the 100% bio-based resins. This makes possible to produce a second generation of composites. But there's more, 100% bio-based composites can also be reprocessed with proper mechanical processes.
A 100% bio-based future with a new start-up
The team is now implementing the project to scale up the production to make commercial applications possible. "The team produced 5 to 10 kilos of materials," explains Ugo, "now the goal is mass production, gradually achieving 100 kilos per week." To move towards a mass production of these resins, a new start up was launched.
The new promising composites can really support a more sustainable space industry and this new approach based on biomass waste can revolutionize the future of space. Who knows, perhaps the molecules from the algae that wash up on the shore and slightly disrupt your vacation or that from tomato or other fruits peels will one day journey to Mars!
For more details, visit the project page on ESA's activities website here.