The Eurecat technology centre has patented new one hundred percent natural origin vitrimeric matrices for composite materials which can be recovered for reuse in the industry value chain in the automotive, construction and capital goods sectors.
Eurecat has presented at the JEC World fair in Paris new composites made with this matrix which have innovative self-bonding properties to eliminate the need for bonding layers coupled with other properties which make them more adaptable and conformable.
“These new formulations of one hundred percent natural origin vitrimers for creating recyclable composite materials unlock the circular economy, cost reduction and increased sustainability in using composite materials for advanced manufacture of lightweight parts with high mechanical strength whose raw materials can be reused through chemical recycling,” says Eva Fité, Eurecat’s Head of Business Development Manufacturing.
Likewise, harnessing these bio-based materials from plant sources “with self-healing, remodelling and self-bonding properties enables the rollout of new disruptive solutions,” adds Sara Murase, Project Manager in Eurecat’s Polymeric Processes and Composites Unit.
At JEC World, Eurecat also showcased sustainable manufacturing technologies for lightweight composite structures with processes such as thermocompression, pultrusion, RTM (Resin Transfer Moulding), infusion and back-injection moulding which help cut energy use in production while ramping up production rates.
“Eurecat’s multidisciplinary approach means it can team up with businesses on highly innovative and technologically risky projects to develop new, more sustainable solutions with new functionalities for a range of industrial sectors, mainly mobility, energy and construction,” points out Mª Eugenia Rodríguez, Technological Development Director in Eurecat’s Industrial Area.
In compositronics, electronics embedded in composite parts which generate lightweight high value-added structures with advanced functions and features, the technology centre has presented a smart wristband equipped with built-in flexible antennas with applications for access control, product personalisation or connection to the Internet of Things which has been developed for Composites ATE, a specialist in manufacturing composite materials and product engineering.
Eurecat also unveiled at the fair a process which enables metal-composite bonding for manufacturing structural parts for the automotive industry alongside advanced solutions for the revalorisation of recycled carbon fibre to drive the composite material circular economy.
Eurecat has been at JEC World, the leading international trade fair for composite materials, in the group led by the Spanish Composite Materials Association (AEMAC) for the fourth year in a row.
