BIOPHENOM

The BioPhenom project will scope and select industrial biomass sidestreams for isolation of biophenols by proven technologies, functionalize the isolated biophenols into intumescent flame retardants (bio-IFRs), and exploit the bio-IFRs as multifunctional components for replacement of harmful chemicals commonly used in formulation and functionality improvement of wood, thermosets, and thermoplastic materials. Impregnation of wood with bio-IFRs will enhance fire resistance and durability for outdoor applications, while a bio-based topcoat will prevent leaching of impregnants and extend service life. The bio-IFRs will be used to produce bio-carbon fibres and bio-epoxy resins formulated with a novel dynamic hardener that allows resin disintegration, thus producing fire resistant and recyclable thermoset biocomposites. The bio-IFRs will also be added to thermoplastic polylactic acid (PLA)-biochar composites to enhance fire resistance. The most promising applications of the materials developed will be scoped within relevant industrial sectors (e.g. building, transportation, automotive), and their functionality and circularity validated against existing benchmarks. Circularity will be demonstrated by recycling the treated wood into particleboards, recovering the thermoset components for reuse, and reformulating the PLA-based thermoplastics into new biocomposites. Process and material developments in BioPhenom will be guided by Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) principles that will be updated with recommendations on identification of data gaps and priorities for data collection. The project data, methodologies, and results will be made FAIR. Ultimately, the outcomes of BioPhenom will enable replacement of harmful substances in material formulations and circularity of end-products, and will increase the portfolio of safe, recyclable, and sustainable bio-based solutions with potential for market uptake, benefiting industry, consumers, and society in Europe.

CIDETEC’S role in the project:

WP3 “Wooden, thermoset, and thermoplastic materials”, will be leaded by Cidetec. The aim of this WP is to develop different kind of materials out from the biophenols extracted in WP2: wood impregnation and coatings (NIBIO, NT); bio-based fire resistant, and 3R epoxy resin systems (Cidetec, SP, INVENT); fire resistant bio-CF and thermosetting composites (UoB, INVENT); and fire-resistant PLA-based thermoplastic composites (CNR, UoB). As WP leader, Cidetec will coordinate the work done by all the partners involved in this developments and, in addition, will lead the task for the development of bio-based, fire-resistant, and 3R epoxy resin systems. In this sense, Cidetec will work on the formulation of a recyclable bio-based epoxy resin with > 80% bio-based content. It will be done by combining the bio-based precursors developed by Specific Polymers (using the biophenols extracted in the project) with dynamic hardeners. These formulations will be used by Cidetec to produce small-scale thermoset composites (by filament winding, prepreg and infusion) using commercially available carbon fibers.  Mechanical and flame resistance properties of the developed composites will be analyzed and, together with Invent, they will scope an end-product or application for these carbon fiber thermoset composites in order to select the most appropriate one.