JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #38 - January/February 2008 - 35

Resins More information For the past 35 years, TransFurans Chemicals has produced furan chemicals from renewable raw materials. The Geel-based facility was established in 1972 as the European chemicals division of the American food group Quaker Oats. Since 1997, this facility operates under the name of TransFurans Chemicals (TFC). With an annual production capacity in excess of 30,000 tons, TFC operates the largest furfuryl alcohol plant in the world. Next to the traditional applications in the foundry and refractory industry, furfuryl alcohol is being developed as a platform for user-friendly polyols, solvents and resins in a variety of applications. Prototype production and testing was performed in cooperation with Polytec Automotive GmbH & Co. The model product for this material was a BMW door panel (Figure 5). Fig. 5: BioRez TM Automotive NFRC demonstration product BioRezTM natural-fibre-reinforced composites Natural-fibre-reinforced composites are established products in today’s automotive industry. All major OEM’s have now models with interior or even exterior trim parts made from flax, hemp, sisal or wood fibres formed with a thermoset or thermoplastic resin system. Current thermoset resin systems feature epoxy, polyurethane, acrylic and phenolic binders, which are all derived from fossil resources. With the introduction of BioRezTM, a renewable thermoset binder is now available for NFRC. Prepolymers of furfuryl alcohol are the base material of BioRezTM resins (Figure 3). The production of BioRezTM Automotive NFRC can be carried out on standard installations for impregnation and hot compression moulding. Short cycling times allow production of large quantities. BioRezTM NFRC have mechanical properties comparable to epoxy/PU NFRC and show low VOC and FOG emission values. FuroliteTM resin for resistant materials FuroliteTM resins are formulated for applications where stability under heat, fire or corrosive environments is needed (Figure 6). Furolite Fig. 3: Generic structure of polyfurfuryl alcohol-based BioRez TM thermoset resin Fig. 6: Furolite TM thermoset resins These resins contain no organic solvents or free furfuryl alcohol and can be formulated with different viscosities and curing characteristics. BioRezTM Automotive is a specially designed sprayable resin for the production of natural-fibre-reinforced composites by hot compression moulding. It is a onecomponent system which is cured at elevated temperatures (>150°C) to yield a crosslinked polymer. The resin is sprayed on natural fibre felts. Impregnated felts are placed in a hot compression mould (Figure 4). To fulfil these requirements, the resins are mostly reinforced with glass fibres, carbon fibres or mineral fillers. They can be used to make components highly resistant to fire with a very low smoke toxicity. These resins are based on purified furfuryl alcohol polymers. They are generally formulated as two-component resins where the hardener is mixed with the liquid resin prior to application. FuroliteTM components can be made by a range of traditional composite manufacturing techniques like vacuum infusion, hand lay-up, spray-up, filament winding and pultrusion when reinforced with fibres. With a mineral or graphite filler, the formulations are applicable as a cementing binder for chemicalresistant polymer concrete. The resin is mostly applied as a twocomponent system that features low-temperature curing. Resin and catalyst are mixed prior to application. Curing temperatures are generally below 100°C. Conclusion Fig.4: Production of natural-fibre-reinforced composites with BioRez Automotive With a press temperature of 190°C, panels can be produced with cycling times below 50 seconds. The typical requirements of interior trim parts can be fulfilled by adjusting the fibre type, specific weight of the natural fibre mat, and amount of resin used as matrix. With BioRezTM and FuroliteTM, a new generation of furan resins is presented to the industry. These resins can find versatile applications such as matrix composite manufacturing. More information: www.transfurans.be No38 January - February 2008 / JEC Composites Magazine

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

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