The projects, with an execution period of two years, are financed by the MIT-Portugal program and respond to two challenges: ensuring the sustainable construction of houses, bridges or tunnels with natural fibers that reduce carbon emissions, and taking advantage of marine resources and waste to obtain new fibers with diverse applications.
Speaking to Lusa, the president of Fibrenamics – Institute of Innovation in Fibrous and Composite Materials, Raul Fangueiro, said that one of the projects to be developed with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) aims to “use waste marine materials with environmental impact”, such as fishing nets, to obtain new fibers with various applications, from tennis rackets, helmets and bicycles to satellites.
Raul Fangueiro added that components can be extracted from algae to create fibers with antimicrobial or anti-inflammatory properties for use, for example, in wound dressings or bandages.
A second project by Fibrenamics and MIT proposes to work on the structure and durability of natural fibers, such as wood or hemp, as a “concrete reinforcement element” in civil construction, as an alternative to steel, which “has a strong environmental impact “, being responsible for “7% of global emissions” of carbon dioxide, according to the president of Fibrenamics.
The two projects are subsidised by more than half a million euros by the MIT-Portugal program, financed by the Foundation for Science and Technology, dependent on the Government.
The program aims to “develop collaborative research” between MIT and national universities, research institutes, laboratories and companies, in areas such as climate science and climate change, Earth observation, digital transformation in manufacturing, sustainable cities and data science.
The Institute for Innovation in Fibrous and Composite Materials, which has the University of Minho among its partners, is a technology and innovation center that studies solutions for architecture, construction, sport, medicine, protection and transport.
Recently, as part of its internationalisation to the United States, Fibrenamics established a partnership with the University of Massachusetts Lowell that will allow the exchange of researchers, the sharing of facilities and the development of projects, to be outlined, with a laboratory that provides ” protection solutions” for the US Army.
Fibrenamics has already developed personal protective equipment for the Brazilian Army.
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