Innovation Crossroads supports composite entrepreneur-Fellow Vinit Chaudhary

Vinit Chaudhary, founder of Elemental Composites and a member of Cohort 2024 in the Innovation Crossroads program, comes from a family of entrepreneurs and has long been interested in business. His focus sharpened when he discovered an interest in composite materials during his mechanical engineering studies at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and saw the potential to scale and commercialize the technology.

“I come from a family of entrepreneurs,” Chaudhary said. “I was always interested in pursuing some sort of business. When I learned about composite materials, I was drawn to how the technology can be scaled up and commercialized.”

Now, supported by Innovation Crossroads — a Department of Energy Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Program node at Oak Ridge National Laboratory — Chaudhary is developing natural fiber composites that are strong, lightweight, and biodegradable. This innovative approach is designed to reduce waste, create new markets for farmers and expand the use of alternative materials across industries such as transportation, automotive, marine infrastructure and sporting goods.

It’s a common adage in the business world that most startups fail, with roughly two-thirds never delivering a positive return to investors. Innovation Crossroads helps energy-related startups beat those odds by connecting entrepreneur-fellows like Chaudhary with ORNL’s world-leading researchers and scientific resources, along with entrepreneurship training like pitch sessions and marketing development.

As Chaudhary develops his technology, he works with ORNL researcher Soydan Ozcan, group leader for the Manufacturing Science Division, and Uday Vaidya, UT-ORNL Governor's Chair in Composite Manufacturing. Chaudhary first collaborated with them during his undergraduate and master’s studies at the University of Tennessee.

The science behind the startup

Elemental Composites utilizes natural fibers such as coir, bamboo and flax as the basis for composites that are strong, lightweight and rigid. Composite materials are created by combining two or more materials that, together, exhibit properties superior to those of the individual components. Examples range from plywood to advanced fiberglass and carbon fiber.

Many composite products end up in landfills because most recycling centers can’t process materials made of multiple components, even though those parts remain valuable. Improper disposal can also pose environmental risks, including soil and groundwater contamination.

“Natural fibers are inherently hydrophilic, meaning they attract moisture, which creates a fundamental incompatibility with the hydrophobic polymer resins used in composites,” added Chaudhary. “This leads to common challenges like poor adhesion and limited mechanical performance.”

Elemental Composites addresses these challenges with an integrated, two-part process. First, they modify fiber surfaces using proprietary, bio-based chemistries that promote strong bonding with both thermoplastic and thermoset resins. Then, their unique manufacturing process creates a uniform, homogeneous feedstock of treated fibers, formed into customized nonwoven mats. This approach gives precise control over material properties, enabling high-performance composites suitable for demanding applications.

“The remarkable advantage of natural fiber composites,” Chaudhary said, “is their ability to match the strength of synthetic materials — often exceeding steel in terms of strength-to-weight ratio — while being biodegradable and lightweight. They also offer excellent thermal insulation, along with vibration and noise damping properties, making them versatile.”

“Our goal is to functionalize these natural fibers for more high-performance composites and eventually match the performance of existing composites like fiberglass,” Chaudhary said.

Looking ahead, Chaudhary aims to open Elemental Composites’ first plant in East Tennessee, where suppliers are already in place. “Knoxville’s ecosystem fosters collaboration and innovation — there’s no better place to scale our work,” he said. “With so many experts in composite materials at ORNL and UTK, along with numerous opportunities for collaboration, this is the perfect place to grow. We are excited for the future we’re building.”

With a vision to lead the charge in natural fiber composites, Chaudhary and Elemental Composites are composing a new chapter for the industry.

The two-year fellowship program is managed and funded by DOE’s Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office with additional funding for this year’s cohort from the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s (EERE’s) Bioenergy Technologies Office, and Wind Energy Technologies Office along with DOE’s Office of Electricity, and Office of Science. Innovation Crossroads receives additional support from the Tennessee Valley Authority.

UT-Battelle manages ORNL for the Department of Energy’s Office of Science, the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States. The Office of Science is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit energy.gov/science. — Brynn Downing