CIDETEC Surface Engineering develops a type of epoxy to build lighter and more sustainable trains

The SURPASS project is working on polymeric materials that will replace metal parts used in the railway sector, thus reducing CO2 emissions.

SURPASS has been advancing for a year and a half in its goal to lead the transition towards Safe, Sustainable and Recyclable by Design (SSRbD) polymeric materials, eliminating the harmful consequences that the use of plastics can have on both people and the environment.

CIDETEC Surface Engineering leads one of the cases focusing on the railway sector, in which it has formulated a recyclable and sustainable epoxy composite using Repairable, Recyclable and Reprocessable (3R) technology that will serve to replace heavy metal parts used in train construction, making them lighter and, thus, reducing CO2 emissions. A group of researchers from CIDETEC Surface Engineering, together with experts from ICT Fraunhofer and BASF, is currently working to also make this material fire-resistant and compliant with railway regulations.

The European project, coordinated by CEA, with a budget of almost EUR 5 million, is developing two other use cases in parallel for the construction and packaging sectors. Together with the transport sector, these sectors generate 70% of the European demand for plastic, making it essential to address them in order to introduce sustainability from the design phase and create a changing trend in the industry.