One year ago OBIC hosted an expanded meeting of its Board of Advisors to indentify and prioritize opportunites for biobased materials (see Preceding Report). A survey of polymers stakeholders that preceded the meeting identified natural fibers as the most important biobased feedstock. OBIC collaborator Dr. Prabhat Krishnaswamy, President of Natural Fiber Composites Corporation (NFCC), is leading an effort to develop this next generation of composite materials for application in transportation, building and construction, and consumer and industrial products.

Rapid innovation is fundamental to competitive growth in the materials marketplace. The Council on Competitiveness confirmed this by saying that translating knowledge into new processes, products, and services is the key to competitiveness in the global economy…now more than ever. Both the State of Ohio and the federal government are investing heavily in projects based on renewable, bio-based, and nano-based materials that have the potential to transform industry innovations. In Ohio, the Department of Development (ODOD), especially through its Third Frontier program, is funding research to discover what combinations of polymers, nanoparticles, and fibers can create advanced structural composite materials that are lighter, less expensive, and at least as strong as conventional materials.

One very promising development is the use of natural fibers from tropical and temperate-climate plants as reinforcement additives to the thermoplastics used for injection molding, compression molding, and extrusion processes. Dr. Prabhat Krishnaswamy, President of Natural Fiber Composites Corporation (NFCC), is leading an effort to develop this next generation of composite materials for application in transportation, building and construction, and consumer and industrial products. These natural fibers have a specific gravity of 1.5 (glass has a s.g. of 2.5) and can be processed using existing equipment with no adjustments or modifications. The increased tensile strength and stiffness of the resulting composites are up to five times better than non-reinforced polypropylene (PP) polymers. Current challenges to the NFCC material include an odor problem and the fact that the fibers are naturally hydrophilic, but when processed into pellet form, the composite becomes hydrophobic. NFCC has made progress to overcome all these challenges. The positioning for the NFCC product is shown in the figure.

Products, like those from NFCC, focus on achieving sustainable advantages linked to energy conservation. This "green" goal is supported by a strong consortium led by the Ohio BioProducts Innovation Center (OBIC) and the Center for Multifunctional Polymer Nanomaterials and Devices (CMPND). Composite engineering technologies (CAPCE), invented at The Ohio State University, and novel natural fiber technologies, invented by NFCC, are making excellent progress through their collaboration and with the support of the Ohio-based consortium. With this outstanding support network, the NFCC material is quickly advancing to a commercial reality through extensive application development projects in various market sectors. All of the organizations names in this paragraph are networking and collaborating in a very active research and commercialization plan that is already involving more than 14 small and large Ohio companies. This collaboration also represents a complete supply chain of material suppliers, molders, and end-users of the advanced reinforced composites. For more information please contact OBIC at ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ; 614-292-2922) or NFCC at ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ; 614-419-5386)

The Ohio BioProducts Innovation Center (OBIC) is a new research initiative that integrates academia and industry toward the development of renewable specialty chemicals, polymers/plastics and advanced materials. The Center was funded in 2005 by the Ohio Department of Development through an $11.5 million Wright Center of Innovation (Third Frontier) award, leveraged with matching funds from external partners. OBIC was created to develop novel germplasms; connect related agricultural and chemical industry components; accelerate commercialization; increase jobs and economic growth/stability; catalyze strategic investments in renewable feedstocks and value-added chemicals and polymers; work with industry to create value chains for bioproducts; leverage platform building blocks/chemicals to create a bioproducts innovation pipeline; and create platform technologies.


The Center for Multifunctional Polymer Nanomaterials and Devices (CMPND) is a recently formed research and commercialization partnership in polymer nanotechnology. This multi-institutional, interdisciplinary organization is centered at The Ohio State University in conjunction with the University of Akron and University of Dayton. CMPND puts Ohio at the forefront of nanotechnology research and commercialization opportunities. Other partners include three additional Ohio universities, more than 50 large and small companies in Ohio. CMPND helps target markets that build on the research strengths of the participating universities and national labs, and develops manufacturing protocols and nanostructures for near-term industrial polymeric nanocomposites, emerging polymer photonic components and devices, and more futuristic biomedical devices and systems with nanoscale functions.