HMC Honda Motor Co Ltd

Honda Foundation, a public-interest incorporated foundation created by Soichiro Honda, the founder of Honda Motor Co., Ltd., and his younger brother Benjiro Honda and currently headed by Hiroto Ishida, is pleased to announce that the Honda Prize 2016(1) will be awarded to Dr. Akira Isogai, professor of the Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences at The University of Tokyo, and Dr. Hiroyuki Yano, professor of the Division of Creative Research and Development of Humanosphere, Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere at Kyoto University, who have made tremendous contributions to the development of high-efficiency production methods of Cellulose Nanofiber (CNF), its application to products, and the enhancement of its potential for further utilization.

Dr. Isogai and Dr. Yano are the 37th laureates of the Honda Prize. The award ceremony will be held at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo on November 17, 2016. In addition to the prize medal and certificate, the laureates will be awarded 10 million yen in total.

CNF is a general term for a bundle of cellulose microfibril that is a basic structure substance of plant cell wall. This nanofiber is one-fifth the weight of steel and five times or more its strength while it has one-fiftieth of linear thermal expansion coefficient of glass. It is a plant-derived, environment-friendly and sustainable resource, which accounts for 50% or more of plant resources, such as wood, and can be found abundantly on earth. Toward early realization of a low-carbon society, it is attracting attention for its utilization as a substitute for petroleum-based plastics, a reinforcing fiber for structural materials and a modifier.

Dr. Isogai has developed "TEMPO(2)-mediated oxidation" as a chemical approach in CNF production and significantly improved the efficiency of CNF production that conventionally required energy-intensive mechanical disintegration. This development paved the way for intensive research for CNF production and its application to industry.

Likewise, Dr. Yano has developed the "Pulp Direct-Kneading Method (Kyoto Process)" that realizes nanoscale fibrillation of pulp fiber and uniform dispersion into resin in the production of composite materials reinforced by CNF. Conventionally, CNF had to be first produced and mixed with composite materials, such as resin, in order to produce resin composites. However, the Kyoto Process has removed such procedures and enabled a simple process, which resulted in substantial reduction in time and cost. In addition, he has made tremendous contributions in expanding a range of CNF application by playing a leading role in industry-government-academia activities.

Until recently, CNF has scarcely been adopted to industrial use due to the high cost of nanofiber-scale disintegration and its characteristics that are difficult to control and handle. However, its application as a functional and structural material is now expanding by adopting the method developed and discovered by Dr. Isogai and Dr. Yano.

Established in 1980, the Honda Prize is awarded annually to an individual or group to recognize accomplishments in the field of ecotechnology(3), which works to advance human achievement while concurrently preserving the natural and human environment, thus contributing to the creation of a truly humane civilization.

Utilizing CNF is the first step to transform the conventional way of manufacturing that is based on the fossil resource-dependent industry to creation of sustainable social infrastructure on which renewable materials are used to produce not only commodity goods but also high-performance parts and components and applied to industrial products such as automobiles and home appliances, as well as to building materials, packaging materials, etc. As a consequence, this is considered as contributing to the Honda Foundation's goal-"Creating a truly humane civilization." Therefore, the reformation of the CNF production method and contributions to the expansion of its utilization area made by Dr. Isogai and Dr. Yano are considered appropriate for the Honda Prize recognition.

(1) Honda Prize: Japan's first international science and technology award inaugurated in 1980.
(2) TEMPO: General term for an organic compound "2, 2, 6, 6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl, radical"
(3) Ecotechnology: Coined from "ecology"-the house of civilization-and "technology." It has been put forward since 1979 as the guiding philosophy for a better symbiosis between technology-driven civilization and nature.

About Honda

Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (TSE:7267/NYSE:HMC/LSE:HNDA) is one of the leading manufacturers of automobiles and power products and the largest manufacture of motorcycles in the world. Honda has always sought to provide genuine satisfaction to people worldwide. The result is more than 120 manufacturing facilities in 30 countries worldwide, producing a wide range of products, including motorcycles, ATVs, generators, marine engines, lawn and garden equipment and automobiles that bring the company into contact with over 19 million customers annually. For more information, please visit http://world.honda.com.

Source: Honda

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