Next Generation Sustainable Composites: Development and Processing of Furan-flax Biocomposites

The work presented in this paper was undertaken as part of BIOCOMP (2005-2008), a European collaborative project, which developed new classes of engineering composite materials from renewable resources. Comprising twenty five European SMEs and research organisations, this three and a half year project generated a wide range of new biocomposite materials, knowledge-based processes and demonstrator components. This study focused on furan thermosetting bioresins, which are made from agricultural waste products such as sugar cane bagasse. Preliminary work included developing a two-part resin and catalyst furan system suitable for hand lay-up with glass fibres. The incorporation of flax fibres into the furan system required significant modifications to the resin chemistry. A high-performance, furan-flax prepreg system was developed, resulting in biocomposites with comparable mechanical properties to conventional glass fibre composites. A number of demonstrator parts were produced for comparison with components currently manufactured using conventional materials.