Bio-based recyclable, reshapable and repairable (3R) fiber-reinforced epoxy composites wins award

A consortium aimed at developing bio-based resins and reinforcements has been recognized at the at the 2018 International Conference on Recycling of Textiles and Plastics (Brugge, Belgium).

ECOxy researchers led by Chiara Di Mauro (Université Cote d’Azur) received a first prize poster award at the 2018 International Conference on Recycling of Textiles and Plastics in November.

ECOxy is a consortium of 13 partners from 8 different European countries that has been formed to involve the European bio-based industry in developing innovative bio-based epoxy resins and fiber reinforcements for thermoset composites that are sustainable and techno-economically competitive. The goal is to move fibers and resins away from fossil-derived materials and energy-intensive manufacturing as well as to address composites’ historical challenges with repair, recycling and reprocessing, which increases overall material cost and environmental impact.

ECOxy’s technical objectives include:

Analyzing and defining raw materials and technologies for composite manufacturing, repairing and recycling
Demonstrator parts sectors including a pultruded window profile for building applications and automotive dashboard fascia and rear seat back panel made with resin transfer molding (RTM) and/or wet compression molding
Validation of demonstrators by end users
Optimizing process parameters

Materials and technologies being analyzed include:

Flax reinforcements and polylactic acid (PLA) yarns
Bio-based epoxy (macro)monomers
Bio-based epoxy thermoset matrix with advanced functionalities
Bio fiber-reinforced 3R composites at lab scale suitable for semi-structural and structural applications.

Members of the consortium include: