As a part of RECREATE and ECORES WIND initiatives, researchers  Giulia Altamura, Stefano Turri and Gianmarco Griffini of the Department of Chemistry, Materials and Chemical Engineering “Giulio Natta” at Politecnico di Milano, developed a new type of thermoset material designed to improve recyclability and sustainability in fiber-reinforced composites.

Traditional thermoset polymers are widely used because of their excellent thermal, mechanical and chemical properties. However, their permanently crosslinked structure makes them very difficult to recycle. In addition, many common thermosets are made from fossil-based and potentially hazardous materials.

To address these challenges, the researchers developed a catalyst-free vitrimer made from an algae-derived epoxy resin (phloroglucinol triglycidyl ether) and glutaric anhydride. Vitrimers are special polymers that can rearrange their internal bonds when heated, allowing reshaping and reprocessing.

The material showed fast stress relaxation at elevated temperatures (3 minutes at 200 °C and 100 minutes at 120 °C) and maintained its dynamic behavior over multiple cycles. When used to produce glass fiber-reinforced laminates, the composite demonstrated excellent adhesion strength (54 MPa), was thermoformable and weldable, and could be chemically recycled under mild conditions (150 °C, ambient pressure).

The researchers evaluated the material’s circularity using the Material Circularity Indicator, showing improved sustainability compared to a conventional thermoset composite.

To read the full paper visit: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0014305726000649?via%3Dihub

To learn more about this and other technologies developed by RECREATE register for the upcoming RECREATE Conference: Made in EU – Creating markets for circular composites on 23rd April 2026 in Brussels.

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