In the age-old quest to innovate, nature often reveals its hidden treasures, offering solutions to modern challenges in the most unexpected places. Imagine a world where the sturdy fibers of banana trees, once mere remnants of tropical fruit farming, now weave together the future of lightweight automotive and bicycle design.
Detail of bananas at a banana plantation in Los Llanos de Aridane, on the Canary Island of La Palma on October 4, 2021. - The banana plantations of La Palma, the second largest of the seven islands in terms of banana production after Tenerife, are suffering from a lack of water following the volcanic eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano on September 19, whose lava destroyed an important irrigation canal supplying properties in the areas of El Remo, Puerto Naos and La Bombilla. JORGE GUERRERO/AFP via Getty Images
Sustainable Innovation in Automotive, Bicycle Industries
A new eco-friendly biomaterial derived from bananas is set to revolutionize lightweight component production for cars and bicycles. Researchers from the University of Maine System, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville collaborated on this innovative project, harnessing fibers extracted from banana stems or trunks.
Similar to fibers from coconut, flax, and hemp, Interesting Engineering reported that bananas are now being explored as a viable natural source for strengthening composite materials used in automotive applications.
Undergraduate students played a crucial role in developing this banana-based material under the guidance of Cait Clarkson and Amber Hubbard, both R&D associates at ORNL's Sustainable Manufacturing Technologies group.
The Sustainable Manufacturing Technologies group developed a banana-based material to reduce reliance on resource-intensive materials like glass fibers, carbon fibers, or metallic alloys, which have a significant carbon footprint.
This new biomaterial derived from bananas is renewable, biodegradable, and potentially less energy-intensive to process. Emma Drake, a junior chemistry major at Auburn University mentored by Amber Hubbard last year, described the project as a comprehensive summer research effort. She gained valuable experience in analytical techniques and chemical modification.
The sustainable material holds promise for reinforcing composites in automotive and bicycle parts, as well as other structural components. The material provides lightweight yet robust components for vehicles, including interior panels and various structural segments.
Renewable Revolution in Composite Materials
Brianna Greer, an undergraduate research intern at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the summer of 2023, pointed out the surprising potential of banana trees. Despite their usual association with fruit, the fiber used in this new material comes from the sturdy stems or trunks of banana plants.
These fibers undergo cleaning and drying before being formed into bundles for further processing. Although bananas themselves are soft and squishy in their ripe state, their trees possess robust, long fibers that significantly enhance the strength of materials used as composite reinforcements.
The development of this innovative biomaterial falls under the Sustainable Materials and Manufacturing Alliance for Renewable Technologies (SM2ART) program. This collaboration involves ORNL's Manufacturing Demonstration Facility and the University of Maine, funded by the DOE's Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office.
