Cornell Prof Invents ‘Green’ Skateboard

Thanks to a Cornell-based company called e2e Materials, skateboards of the future won’t just be able to hover, they’ll also be fully biodegradable.

Prof. Anil Netravali, fiber science and apparel design, has developed a composite made entirely out of plant materials, which could replace formaldehyde-based particleboard. Last May, Netravali joined with Patrick Govang, then of the Cornell Center for Materials Research, to form e2e Materials and bring products based on Netravali’s work to the open market. Govang, now the president of e2e Materials, resigned from Cornell in January to concentrate on biodegradable composites full time.

A composite is made from combining fibers, like yarn or flax, which give the material strength, and resin, a glue-like substance, which binds the fibers together. By putting the two materials together, “you obtain synergy and properties from both that you cannot get from one,” Netravali said.

or flax, which give the material strength, and resin, a glue-like substance, which binds the fibers together. By putting the two materials together, “you obtain synergy and properties from both that you cannot get from one,” Netravali said.

Currently, most fibers and resins are derived from petroleum, which is both expensive and nonbiodegradable. “In many cases you don’t want it to be [biodegradable],” Netravali noted. “If you’re sitting in an airplane, you don’t want the wing to fall off! But this is not sustainable. At the end of [a product’s] life, you throw it away, and it sits in a landfill for decades, or even centuries. We want to change that system.”

Netravali and his team produce so-called “green” composites, made entirely from plant materials. The resins are made from soy proteins, “almost the same material that goes into tofu,” according to Netravali.

The materials they use for the fibers would be at home in a fruit salad, including bamboo, pineapple and coconut.

The chemical processes used to convert raw soybeans into a substance with the same properties as epoxy are also green, using water solvents and benign chemicals.

The final product is ten times stronger and 25 percent lighter than current particleboards, and can be made into any shape with no wasted material.

“At the end of its life, you can take it and put it in the compost pile, and it can be used to fertilize more plants.” said Netravali.

The possible uses for these composites are apparently endless.

Last month, e2e Materials collaborated with Comet Skateboards, a San Francisco-based company owned by a Cornell alum, to produce the world’s first-ever 100 percent green skateboard. Two professional riders from Comet Skateboards tested them and declared them to be “unbreakable.”

“We’re working to produce our first shipment later this year,” Govang said.

e2e Materials is also working with a furniture company to make office furniture, a product that could have profound effects on the health of employees.

“Formaldehyde is the key ingredient in particleboard today,” said Govang. “It’s also a carcinogen. It can also be a leading contributor to sick building syndrome, which happens when toxins in the carpets and the ceiling tiles outgas into the air. People complain of having constant colds, things like that. Our products are totally safe. Everything that goes into our product, you can eat.”

e2e Materials follows a “fully sustainable” business model, using locally-grown raw materials to create locally-used products.

“We use natural fibers that can be grown in New York State, and produce products that can be shipped to the Northeast … with a regional approach like that, you can develop a profitable business model,” Govang said.

Not only does this regional focus cut shipping costs, but it is also beneficial to the local economy.

“We can help farmers in New York State,” he added. “The process used to make our soy proteins is complementary to the process used to make biodiesel. The soybeans are about 14 percent oil. This oil can be used to make biodiesel, and the leftover protein can be used to make our resins. Not only can we bring in the soybeans and the fibers, we can be part of the process that goes into making the biofuel that fuels the farm equipment to make more soybeans.”

e2e Materials has won two major awards this month alone.

On April 5, it won the first EssentialConnections.org Emerging Business competition, beating out 91 other companies for a $100,000 prize.

Last Thursday, they won the BR Ventures award from Cornell’s Johnson Business School, a $10,000 prize. This automatically entered them in the Golden Horseshoe competition in Rochester next month, for which the prize is another $100,000.

“Hopefully these efforts will grow into bigger things,” said Netravali.