Ford began working with several companies, suppliers and universities in 2013 to find applications for captured CO₂. Among these companies is Novomer. Novomer is commercializing a proprietary catalyst system that transforms waste CO₂ into high performance, low-cost polymers for a variety of applications, including foam and plastic that are easily recyclable. These polymers contain up to 50% CO₂ by mass.

Features of the Novomer catalyst include:

• Moderate Reaction Conditions. The Novomer CO₂-epoxide reaction occurs at moderate temperature and pressure, typically 35° to 50°C and 200 to 300 psi, and thus the polymerization process requires significantly less energy for synthesis as compared to conventional polyols.

• Fast Reaction Times. Novomer’s catalyst is more than 300 times more active than previous systems developed to synthesize aliphatic polycarbonates and, therefore, results in fast and easily manageable reaction times.

• Low Catalyst Cost. The catalyst system does not use precious metals and requires simple organic chemistry which keeps its synthesis costs low. In addition it is easily removed from the polymer and can be recycled and reused.

• Low Finished Polymer Cost. The use of inexpensive CO₂ combined with Novomer’s fast-acting, low-cost catalyst yields finished polymers that are competitive or cost-advantaged relative to competing petroleum-based polymers.

• Tunable Molecular Structure. Novomer polymers can be tailored to yield precise polymer backbones, structures, molecular weights and functionalities, creating materials with optimized performance properties for specific industrial applications.

An overriding performance benefit of Converge polyols that translates across all polyurethane applications is increased strength. In foams, the incorporation of Converge Polyol into the formulation improves mechanical and tear strength, and increases the foam modulus (greater load bearing capacity) at equivalent density. An additional benefit of Converge Polyols is a more than 40% reduction in heat of combustion versus conventional polyols—especially important where strict flammability requirements must be met.

In most applications, Converge Polyols are used in combination with conventional polyols to achieve the desired performance benefits. In general, Converge polyols are miscible with most polyester polyols while compatibility with polyether polyols is more limited and impacted by concentration and molecular weight of the polyols being blended.

Novomer is excited by the pioneering work Ford has completed with our Converge CO₂-based polyols. It takes bold, innovative companies such as Ford to enable new technologies to become mainstream products.

—Peter Shepard, Novomer chief business officer

Some 2.4 million pounds (1,088.62 metric tonnes) of CO₂ are released into the atmosphere globally per second. Plastic manufacturing accounts for nearly 4% of the world’s oil use, according to British Plastic Federation. Ford researchers are hopeful the company’s early steps to use captured carbon in innovative ways will help achieve the long-term goals to reduce global warming recently set in the UN Paris Agreement.

For nearly two decades, researchers have worked successfully to develop sustainable materials for Ford products. In North America, soy foam is in every Ford vehicle. Coconut fiber backs trunk liners; recycled tires and soy are in mirror gaskets; recycled T-shirts and denim go into carpeting; and recycled plastic bottles become REPREVE fabric used in the 2016 F-150.