American Process Inc and Aditya Birla Group’s Birla Carbon have signed a joint development agreement to further explore the technical and business potential of combining carbon black and nanocellulose to improve the performance and sustainability profile of tires.
Initial evaluations suggest synergies between the companies’ Birla Carbon and BioPlus nanocellulose products to significantly lower the rolling resistance of tires. Research indicates that up to 20% of a vehicle’s fuel efficiency is impacted by the rolling resistance of tires.
Charles Herd, director of Birla Carbon’s rubber black technology, commented, “Low rolling resistance has been an ever-increasing area of investment and technological development for tire manufacturers in all aspects of tire technology including design, construction and materials. The synergies between carbon black and nanocellulose offer an exciting opportunity to meet the performance and environmental demands placed on us as a responsible manufacturing entity in a global society.”
Theodora Retsina, CEO of American Process Inc, added, “In addition to its exceptional sustainability profile, nanocellulose offers tremendous performance improvements for a variety of materials applications including rubber. With strength equivalent to carbon fiber, nanocellulose can improve the strength, durability, and toughness of composites. It also shows unique synergistic effects with other filler materials such as carbon black in improving composite performance.”
March 14, 2017
