DuPont and Denso corporation have collaborated to launch an automotive part made with a renewably sourced polymer. The novelty here is that the part is a radiator end tank that is going to be exposed to harsh underhood conditions. Correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems to me a very important breakthrough for bioplastics, going from disposable products to pure high performance. Of course, DuPont is not an ordinary plastic producer and Denso is not just a client.
DuPont/Denso bioplastic radiator
The part: automotive radiator end-tank
The material: nylon
The grade that made it: DuPont™ Zytel® 610
DuPont Renewably Sourced Materials
The launch of a bioplastic underhood car part is well framed within DuPont’s strategy towards better environmental practices, it is certainly not an isolated movement. Through an alliance with Tate & Lyle, of which I have already written here, DuPont can now commercialised several plastics with renewable content, as well as polyols. DuPont has a specific portal, Dupont Renewable Sourced Materials, which I recommend you visit for more info. I find that, unlike other competitors, DuPont is quite honest and straightforward in its statements. A clear example of its down to earth approach is their public definition of renewably sourced material:
DuPont™ Renewably Sourced™ Materials contain a minimum of 20% renewably sourced ingredients by weight
This may seem a simple, not so ambitious claim, but very few companies will dare to publish such a number. Even bioplastic producers that use both renewable and petrochemical feedstocks tend to be very secretive about their minimum renewable content. Also DuPont is telling us its minimum content, not launching a marketing campaign about the product with the highest renewable content within its portfolio. This is not exactly new business for DuPont, and its current portfolio of biosourced materials speaks for itself:
- CerenolTM Polyols
- SusterraTM Propanediol
- ZemeaTM Propanediol
- Hytrel® RS Thermoplastic Elastomers
- Pro-Cote® Soy Polymers Selar® VP Breathable Resins
- Sorona® EP Thermoplastic Polymers
- Sorona® Polymers
DuPont and Denso
DuPont is considered a strong partner in automotive, due to their expertise in materials science. It has proven its capacity in innovation by developing projects with clients to improve products. Denso Corporation, which is a global supplier of automotive systems and components, has already collaborated with DuPont in other projects. A few years back, Denso and DuPont worked together in a programme in which a global team made and tested a prototype automotive radiator end tank using 100 percent glass-reinforced nylon recovered from post-consumer radiator end tanks. The Society of Automotive Engineering awarded this initiative in 2005 and it seems Denso and DuPont have been working since then on improving the radiator end tank.
Have a look at some of my other posts looking at the materials used in the automotive industry. You’ll find out that right now our car can be made of recycled plastic, bioplastic, plastic reinforced with natural fibres… It’s not like the plastic industry is not trying here!
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Other sources of information
www.globaldenso.com
www.dupont.com
