Soya oil-derived resin used in bio-based urban hybrid concept car

08-May-09

A student project team at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm (Sweden) built a racing car incorporating the one-component resin system Tribest from global specialty chemicals supplier Cognis (Germany). This environmentally sound product is part of the body of the bio-based urban hybrid concept car called 'Aurora' that is entering in the Shell Eco-marathon, taking place from May 7-9 at the EuroSpeedway Lausitz racetrack in Germany. Cognis' Tribest is a patented resin used to make matrices for composite materials. It is based on renewable raw materials (acrylate functional resin system derived from soya oil). The KTH Eco Cars student project team built the car body out of Tribest and hemp fibers. Their car will compete in this year's Shell Eco-marathon which focuses on finding innovative solutions for building sustainable cars. Aurora bio-based urban hybrid concept is the car not only powered by a fuel-efficient hybrid drive line, its very core will be made out of bio-based materials. Per Wennhage, assistant professor at KTH said, "This means that the manufacturing process uses less energy and resources, so reducing the car's overall impact on the environment. Tribest showed good wetting properties in combination with the hemp when building the body, and because it is styrene-free, it was really convenient to use." In this year's Shell Eco-marathon in Germany, Aurora will be competing in the UrbanConcept class.