The CUBIC consortium gathered for its 5^th project meeting from Oct. 7-8, 2025. Hosted by the German Institutes of Textile and Fiber Research (DITF, Denkendorf, Germany), the meeting reviewed progress and upcoming strategies. Participants also toured DITF’s stabilization and carbonization lines for carbon fiber and joined in a training session on DITF’s development of bio-based carbon fibers from lignin. As a partner in CUBIC, DITF is working to develop towpregs to be used in the production of Type 4 pressure vessels.

CUBIC consortia members reported that new promising formulations based on bio-based monomers have been identified, including bioPA, bioepoxy and bio-based carbon fiber, which show great potential for pilot scale production. Validation at intermediate scale confirmed the reproducibility of lab results while Certified Renewable Carbon Content (C-bio) analyses also confirmed consistency across scales.

In parallel, other monomers have been successfully scaled up, and representative pilot batches were delivered to partners Moses Productos (Zaragoza, Spain) and Centexbel (Brussels, Belgium).

Work is also ongoing to review the Virtual Control Strategy within CUBIC’s Sustainability and Digitalization twinning activities from colleagues at idener.ai (Seville, Spain).

Meanwhile, CIDETEC (Donostia/San Sebastián, Spain) has carried out mechanical tests on composites made from carbon fiber and a bio-based epoxy resin (BioEPO) supplied by Specific Polymers (Castries, France), produced through an in-house process.

Together with Carbotainer (Zaragoza, Spain) and CIDETEC, DITF held a hybrid technical workshop with presentations on:

• Lignin-based carbon fiber production
• Pultrusion and vitrimer thermoforming
• Type 4 hydrogen pressure vessels.

 

Training events 

On Oct. 29, CUBIC held another training as part of the VITAL Learning Factory. Partner idener.ai showcased how AI and data-driven approaches can create new opportunities in manufacturing, while polymer experts covered bio-based thermoplastics processing and recycling.

Alongside the online training, an in-person afternoon session provided participants with practical experience regarding thermoplastic process conditions, reprocess recycled bioplastics and how to evaluate the performance of the recycled products.

For more information about CUBIC, read:

• Fourth CUBIC project newsletter
• CUBIC project updates reinforce focus on bio-based composites development
• CUBIC project to develop 100% recyclable composite hydrogen container, car seat.