Rhodia, a member of the Solvay Group, and Avantium have signed a collaboration agreement to jointly develop new bio-based polyamides that target a variety of applications.
Avantium has previously collaborated with Solvay to jointly develop bio-based engineering plastics.
Under the extended relationship agreement between Avantium and Rhodia, both partners will explore the market potential of polyamide compositions on the basis of Avantium's YXY building blocks technology. The polyamide compositions, which are produced from renewable and bio-based feedstock, are expected to present a superior environmental profile and at the same time deliver applicative performances at a competitive cost.
Rhodia said it will test these new polyamides for fibres and engineering applications in various areas such as consumer goods, automotive and electronic materials.
As part of the development, Rhodia and Avantium have also entered into a multiyear, exclusive collaboration towards commercialisation of these new polyamides.
Rhodia R&D vice-president Louis Neltner said this partnership perfectly fits with their strategy to deliver new sustainable products to their markets, and will combine their know-how in polyamides with Avantium's YXY technology to produce building blocks for green materials.
Avantium CEO Tom van Aken said they are very pleased to work with Rhodia on developing performing, sustainable and competitive solutions for a broad range of customers. "Together with our existing partnerships in polyamides, we are now completely covering all application areas for polyamides on basis of our green building blocks," he added.
Avantium's YXY is brand name of a family of green building blocks used for making materials and fuels that can compete on both price and performance with oil-based alternatives.
