Follow for more talkers

New material made from gasoline waste could make cars more eco-friendly

The discovery could also boost the environmental credentials of aircrafts and spaceships

Avatar photo

Published

on
Vintage gas sign on old building.

By Tom Campbell via SWNS

A new solid material made from the dregs of petroleum could be used to make the bodies of cars more eco-friendly, scientists have found.

Vintage gas sign on old building.
The solution could lie with feedstock, the heavy, gloppy waste material left over from refining gasoline. (Structured Vision/Shutterstock)

The carbon fibres would make vehicles much lighter, cutting greenhouse gas emissions and improving the range of electric models.

Reducing the weight of vehicles has proven challenging because few lightweight materials are strong enough to be used safely.

Now scientists have come up with a solution using lightweight fibres made from feedstock, the heavy, gloppy waste material left over from refining petroleum.

via GIPHY

Feedstock is too dirty to be burned like normal petrol and is often sent to landfills because it's so cheap.

Author Dr. Nicola Ferralis at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) said: "If you look at the same model car now, compared to 30 years ago, it’s significantly heavier.

"The weight of cars has increased more than 15 percent within the same category.”

Carbon fibres had already been used to make vehicles, but only a handful of very expensive models.

Dr Ferralis said: "Carbon fibres of the quality needed for automotive use cost at least $10 to $12 per pound currently and can be way more.

"That compares to about 75 cents a pound for steel, or $2 for aluminium, though these prices fluctuate widely, and the materials often rely on foreign sources.

"At those prices making a pickup truck out of carbon fibre instead of steel would roughly double the cost."

Part of the reason why carbon fibre costs so much is the process used to extract them from petroleum, known as polymerisation.

Dr Ferralis said: "The cost of the polymer can account for more than 60 percent of the total cost of the final fibre."

To reduce the cost, the researchers used a material called petroleum pitch, or what is left over from the refining process, known as the "bottom of the barrel."

Dr Ferralis said: "Pitch is incredibly messy and that’s actually what makes it beautiful in a way, because there’s so much chemistry that can be exploited.

"That makes it a fascinating material to start with.”

They looked at how the material's molecules bonded together and developed a standardised process that companies can easily replicate.

Co-author graduate student Asmita Jana said: "We were able to reproduce the results with such startling accuracy to the point where companies could take those graphs and be able to predict characteristics such as density and elastic modulus of the fibres."

The carbon fibres could be made strong in tension and compression, meaning they could carry large loads, by adjusting certain conditions at the start of the process, the researchers found.

Their new method will cost around $3 a pound, although a detailed economic analysis still needs to be carried out.

Dr Ferralis said: "The new route we’re developing is not just a cost effect, it might open up new applications, and it doesn’t have to be vehicles."

Their discovery could also be used to boost the environmental credentials of aircrafts and spaceships, as well as other products.

Dr Ferralis said: "Part of the complication of making conventional fibre composites is that the fibres have to be made into a cloth and laid out in precise, detailed patterns.

"The reason for that is to compensate for the lack of compressive strength but with the new process all that extra complexity would not be needed."

The findings were published in the journal Science Advances.

Stories and infographics by ‘Talker Research’ are available to download & ready to use. Stories and videos by ‘Talker News’ are managed by SWNS. To license content for editorial or commercial use and to see the full scope of SWNS content, please email [email protected] or submit an inquiry via our contact form.

Top Talkers