JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #38 - January/February 2008 - 34

FEATURE “Resins and Gelcoats” Application of novel furan resins in composites Biomass-based furan resins have more than 50 years of application history, especially in the foundry industry. Recently, TransFurans Chemicals developed user-friendly furan resin systems which and have application potential in a variety of composite areas. This article presents an overview of the development of new furan resins in composite applications. DR. IR. HANS E. HOYDONCKX, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Focus DR. IR. WIM M. VAN RHIJN, GENERAL MANAGER TRANSFURANS CHEMICALS uran resins are thermoset condensation resins derived from renewable resources. Produced from pentose sugars, furfuryl alcohol or its prepolymers make up the raw materials of furan thermosets. Current advancements in formulation technology render these resins appropriate for composite production. Hot compression moulding is a proper technique to produce naturalfibre-reinforced composites (NFRC) from furan resins. These biobased NFRC are fit for the production of interior trim parts in automotive. For this application, a furan resin system was developed to be processed with short cycling times (<50s) and meet the stringent automotive requirements. Other composite production techniques like BMC, resin infusion, hand lay-up, and prepreg are currently under investigation. With furan resins, fibre-reinforced composites can fulfil typical requirements in different application fields. The high intrinsic resistance to fire of the furan polymer matrix renders these composite materials applicable for fireproof purposes in public transport, construction, etc. (Figure 1). The possibilities of these new furan resins are further adapted to standard composite production techniques in BioComp, an Integrated project for SMEs supported by the European Commission through the Sixth Framework Programme. The aim of BioComp is to develop engineering composite materials made entirely from renewable resources. These biocomposites are composed of bioderived resins reinforced by natural fibres and address the issue of environmental sustainability for future consumer and engineering products. http://www.biocomp.eu.com/ With biomass as the sole raw material, it is a renewable and CO2neutral chemical (Figure 2). Technically, furfural can be produced from any raw material which contains pentose. On an industrial scale, the pentosan (hemi-cellulose) content, price, local availability and cost of collection, transportation, and handling of raw materials determine overall profitability. Corncobs and bagasse from sugar cane are the major industrial feedstocks for furfural production. Fig. 2: Production route of furfural and furfuryl alcohol from sugarcane Novel biomass-based furan resins Fig. 1: Traditional and novel applications of furfuryl alcohol Furfural, the raw material for furfuryl alcohol, is produced from the hemicellulosic part of agricultural wastes. A controlled, hightemperature digestion of this pentose-based fraction yields furfural. TFC recently developed a new range of resins based on prepolymers of furfuryl alcohol. BioRezTM and FuroliteTM are two novel resin systems which are suitable in a wide range of formulations as the matrix for binding fibreglass, rockwool and carbon fibre, as well as natural fibres such as wood, flax, sisal and jute. JEC Composites Magazine / No38 January - February 2008

http://www.biocomp.eu.com/

JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #38 - January/February 2008

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #38 - January/February 2008