Bringing you the latest composite advances across the transportation sector
Bringing you the latest composite advances across the transportation sector, straight from the show floor of JEC World 2025
Under the umbrella of ‘pushing the limits’, JEC World 2025 brought together the global composites sector to showcase the latest innovations that are redefining lightweighting, performance and design possibilities across the transport manufacturing industry.
The 60th edition of the show was the largest to date, attracting over 45,000 professionals from 94 countries. More than 1,350 exhibitors displayed their cutting-edge products and technology advances throughout the event, while thought leaders and experts discussed a range of topics key to composite innovation, such as circular economy principles.
In total, more than 600 new products were launched during JEC World 2025, giving a positive indication to the pace of development within the composites industry.
INNOVATION IN FOCUS
This year’s JEC Composites Innovation Awards recognised 11 collaborative achievements across the composites spectrum, which the organiser says reflects the industry’s dedication to providing new solutions for all application sectors. The competition is open to any company, university or R&D centre with a compelling collaborative innovation or concept to showcase.
Running through some of the winners within the transportation field, Airbus took first place in the Aerospace – Parts category for its Multifunctional Fuselage Demonstrator (MFFD), made out of thermoplastic composite materials covering novel design and build concepts and delivering lower CO2 emissions, dustless joining and material and process time reduction. Also in the aerospace category, Loop Technology’s FibreLINE technology was awarded in the Process category for its high-rate manufacturing of composite structures, while Jaguar Land Rover took the Automotive and Road Transportation category for its Sustainably Optimised Composite Automotive (SOCA) project for decarbonising the manufacturing of composite automotive parts.
SUSTAINABILITY IN FOCUS
In line with the theme of circular sustainability, Syensqo introduced its ReGen portfolio of sustainable composite materials at this year’s show. Containing a controlled blend and/or mass-balanced renewable feedstocks, the materials offer the same performance as their parent equivalents but with added sustainability credentials.
During the event, Syensqo’s new SolvaLite 714 ReGen, MTM 57 ReGen and MTM 58B ReGen materials were launched for the automotive market. The company says its ReGen portfolio is a response to market desire for circular composites, without the need to make modifications to existing manufacturing processes.
The Synesqo booth also highlighted several innovative components and flagship products within the composites space, such as the first fully composite electric car battery box enclosure to meet all major automotive mechanical and fire safety hazards, which the company designed in partnership with Ricardo and Airborne. The firm also showcased a wing spar from Ascendance’s ATEA VTOL prototype created from Syensqo’s MTM 45-1 epoxy resin system for its high-performance and flexible curing properties, and micro launcher components manufactured by Orbex using the Syensqo’s CYCOM 5320-1 thermoset resin system coupled with THORNEL T650 fabric. These parts play a key role in Orbex’s novel carbon fibre coaxial tank, specifically designed for its BioLPG fuel system for sustainable space exploration.
CARBON-NEGATIVE COMPOSITES
Elsewhere, Dama Bioplastics unveiled its innovative carbon-negative material, Dama Black, designed specifically for the plastics, rubbers and composite sectors. Derived from waste biomass, the biomaterial locks away three tonnes of CO2 per ton produced, delivering a carbon-negative impact while enhancing product performance.
Providing increased lightweight, thermal stability, UV stabilisation and mechanical strength, Dama Black can be seamlessly integrated into existing manufacturing processes for high-performance automotive components. According to the firm, Dama Black is capable of doubling the strength of plastic composites and increasing the strength of concrete by 20%. The material is made entirely from plant waste and could therefore act as a sustainable drop-in replacement for petroleum-based Carbon Black.
“2025 marks a pivotal year for Dama and the industries we serve,” says Cole Gibbs, founder and CEO of Dama Bioplastics. “Dama Black represents the future of sustainable materials, combining environmental responsibility with innovative performance.”
THE GOLDEN AGE OF GRAPHENE
Initially dubbed the revolutionary ‘wonder material’ of the past decade, graphene is well-known in the engineering community for its superior strength, electrical conductivity and transparency. So far, though, the material has struggled to live up the initial hype surrounding it due to challenges in production and scaling up. Innovative materials company Graphmatech is working hard to change that, as seen at JEC World.
Founded in 2017 by Dr Mamoun Taher, Graphmatech is an innovative Sweden-based materials company that infuses graphene into polymers and metals to create composite materials with remarkable properties. The key to success for the company’s multifunctional hybrid materials is its novel infusion process, says Cecilia Arhammar, head of research and development at Graphmatech.
“We have developed a blending process via extrusion where we heat up the plastic polymer and blend in the graphene in a way that is key to maintaining the material’s properties,” she explains. “To do this on a large scale is very complex. We have therefore designed a machine that enables a very good blend between the polymer thermoplastic material and the graphene, achieving good separation of the graphene plates.”
Graphmatech’s resulting polymer-graphene composites have the potential to reshape a wide range of applications, from conductive pipes and hydrogen infrastructure to industrial packaging.
“Within aerospace, for example, graphene can enhance the polymer vessels used for hydrogen storage,” Arhammar says. “This results in minimal leakage. As well as hydrogen storage tanks, graphene-infused thermoplastics could be widely used in applications like regular gasoline tanks and pressure vessels – any component that requires higher thermal and mechanical load would benefit from graphene-infused polymers. Protecting electronics is also a key area that we’re looking at. Additionally, there are currently a lot of limiting factors with packaging protection, such as oxygen, where graphene-infused composites could really make a difference.”
SUPERIOR VIBRATION DAMPING
As industries increasingly prioritise sustainability, an environmentally responsible material that also offers high durability, good lifespan and energy-efficient production is crucial. Industrial Summit Technology (IST) Corporation believes its newly launched advanced polyimide fibre Imiditex fulfils this brief.
The material is designed to work in synergy with traditional glass and carbon fibres to enhance their performance and unlock “unprecedented” applications, all while offering a high 3.0GPa tensile strength, a continuous use temperature exceeding 250°C, and an ultra-low water absorption rate of less than 0.9%.
“One of the most unique characteristics of Imiditex is its vibration damping and shock absorption,” says Toshiko Sakane, CEO and president of IST Corporation. “As well as its high temperature and UV resistance, it is lighter than both glass fibre and carbon fibre so when combined with these materials it can form much lighter composite parts.”
Imiditex can be integrated seamlessly into composite structures to complement and expand the functional capabilities of existing parts. When combined with carbon or glass fibres, the material provides superior vibration damping, improved impact resistance and significant weight reduction without compromising the structural integrity of the part, and without replacing conventional composite fibres.
“We have had lots of enquiries from the automotive and aerospace sectors for reducing vibration issues, such as engine wing vibration or spoiler wing vibration,” Sakane says. “Also, far less energy is needed to produce Imiditex when compared to carbon fibre, for instance. Essentially, Imiditex retains the existing properties of polyimide such as heat resistance, low water absorption and high strength which makes it ideal for high-performance composite applications.”
Within the field of aerospace, saving weight while ensuring structural integrity is a crucial requirement for composite components. Imiditex fulfils both of these demands, leading to improved fuel efficiency and ensuring durability in extreme environments. The fibre’s vibration damping properties improve part stability, while its electromagnetic transparency make it well suited to applications in which radio wave transmission is essential, such as aircraft communication systems and satellite components.
Lightweight and durable materials are also highly sort after within the automotive sector as the industry looks to improve its sustainability credentials. Imiditex enhances vehicle components by reducing weight and improving impact resilience, leading to better fuel efficiency and lower emissions. According to Sanake, integrating the fibre into automotive composite parts will support the next generation of transportation innovations.
