FORTAN® / Bio-based

What is this bio-based polymer?

A 55% bio-based polymer that can serve as a substitute for polyamides or other common engineering plastics, offering a good balance between sustainability, performance and cost. The bio-based feedstock content comes from waste streams of food production, mainly sugars and vegetable oils. The material can be tailored to specific needs in numerous applications while ensuring significant carbon footprint reductions as well as smart end-of-life, including non-persistency.

This is the injection moulding grade (i-series), and an extrusion grade (x-series) is also available.

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Material properties

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• Tensile Modulus [MPa] - 1320

• Yield Strength [MPa] - 45

• Elongation at Break [%] - 230-270

• Charpy Notched Impact Strength, +23°C  [kJ/m2 ] - 6.0

• Density [kg/dm3] - 1.08

• Melt Volume-Flow Rate [cm3/10min] - 4-5 (210°C/2.16 kg)

Technical benefits

The material properties make it a valid alternative to fossil-based engineering plastics. It is mechanically robust and has a high resistance against wear and tear.

Additionally, the material can be formulated to degrade over a period of 1-10 years, depending on the desired application and environment.

Look and feel

The sample feels sturdy and has an attractive surface quality. The base material is translucent (light yellow) and allows tinting across a broad spectrum of colours.

Environmental benefits

The material offers a reduction in carbon footprint of up to 45% compared with conventional polyamides.

Applications

From strong fibres/yarns/articles for textiles and fishing gear, to engineering parts, bio-clips, and beyond.

Why we chose this material bio-based material?

A partly bio-based and non-persistent biodegradable alternative for engineering plastics. Non-persistent, meaning that the timeframe to degrade in nature is shorter than that of fossil-based plastics and finally only CO2 and biomass remain.

Why you should consider this material

• You are looking for a bio-based material with a reduced carbon footprint for high-performance applications.

• You are looking for a polymer with a built-in non-persistency.

• You would like to develop a tailored material for your specifications, with the possibility to balance mechanical properties with biodegradability.

About the manufacturer

B4Plastics (Flanders, Belgium) is a gram-to-ton scale materials developer.
The company designs and scales biomaterials and bio-based materials for specific applications that need an optimal balance between performance, sustainability, and cost. So far, B4Plastics has created four different technology platforms: FortePlastics, TriggerPlastics, RubberPlastics, and LowEnergyPlastics.

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