Toyota's parts manufacturers develop plant fiber materials Netizens: Sugarcane makes cars

Recently, according to media reports, Toyota's parts manufacturer Toyota Iron Works and Nagoya University began to cooperate to develop plant fibers, which will extract "cellulose nanofibers (CNFs)" from the stems of sugarcane close relatives to replace the glass fibers incorporated in automotive resin products.

It is reported that Toyota Iron Works plans to achieve productization by 2024 to contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, and the main issue of the product in the future is to reduce costs.

The object of the study is the 4-5 m tall grass plant sorghum, from which CNF will be extracted, which is also a novel attempt.

Toyota Iron Works has made the NMF of the improved sorghum more suitable for resin, and the resin product can reduce the weight of the car and reduce fuel economy. Compared with the glass fibers incorporated in general resin products, the CNF of sorghum does not change in quality even if it is reused, it is lighter than glass fiber but has the same strength, and it is possible to be used in a wide range of resin products.

However, the unit price of glass fiber is about 200 yen /kg, while the CNF is about 2,000 yen /kg, which is 10 times that of glass fiber. To reduce prices, Toyota Iron Works and Nagoya University are studying the efficient separation of CNFs from sorghum through a manufacturing process.

Toyota Iron Works also began to consider selling bio-alcohol to power companies, and then used the money to re-purchase sorghum, the raw material for making CNF. In addition, in order to achieve mass production, the two sides are also cooperating on the abandoned land to ensure that sorghum is cultivated.