Recyclamine® - Novel Amine Building Blocks for a Sustainable World

Presenter: Ed Rose

Abstract

Abstract Authors: 
Pradip Kumar Dubey, Satish Kumar Mahanth, William Buckley, Amit Dixit
Aditya Birla Chemicals (Thailand) Limited

Epoxy thermosets are high performance polymers having superior mechanical, adhesion, and very good chemical resistance properties, preferred for versatile applications in Composites, Coating, Construction, Electrical & Electronics segments. The global epoxy thermoset market is valued at 2.7 million MT. Unfortunately, thermosetting plastics used today are not recyclable. Thermosets waste generated during manufacturing and end-of-life poses significant environmental and societal challenges all over the world. A new class of high-performance amine-based epoxy curing agents, Recyclamines®, have been developed for the creation of inherently recyclable thermoset materials. Recyclamine® technology is based on specifically engineered recyclamine® curing agents which enables a mechanism with cleavage points that converts thermosetting epoxies into thermoplastics under specific set of conditions. These cleavage points are reversible at specific condition and hence enable disintegration of the thermoset matrix. During this disintegration process all the valuable components such as carbon fiber, glass fiber, kevlar, plastic material in a thermoset composite, can be recovered. Importantly, the thermoset manufacturing waste can be recycled and re-integrated back into the manufacturing ecosystem.

In this paper general overview of the recyclable epoxy technology and platform chemistry will be presented, including the underlying chemical principle that fosters recycling and recovery of the cured thermoset epoxy. Examples of specific Recyclamines ® molecules will be shown together with their performance data and advantages in specific application segments.

Keywords: Thermosets, Recyclamine®, Recyclable, Ecosystem


About the Presenter

Currently, Ed serves as the Business Development Manager in Composites & Electrical Advanced Materials with Aditya Birla for the Americas Region. Prior to his current responsibilities, Ed was the Regional Account Manager for North American Composites serving New England and Eastern Canada. Ed was the founder and president of two separate composites manufacturing companies, Opti-Rod manufactured fiber-reinforced sucker rods, and previous to this Falcon International, manufacturing armored flooring for the Army Aviation Command. Before starting these composite companies, Ed served on the Advanced Space Transportation Program with NASA and Lockheed Martin Aeronautics in Fort Worth, Texas.