| The aim of this project is to make low cost 'green materials' (biocomposites) for use in various housing panel applications, for example, wall panels, roofs, doors, floors, etc, to compete with and substitute for glass-polyester panel systems used presently. The starting materials for these products are natural fibers as reinforcements, and unsaturated polyester resin as polymer matrix. The project consists of three interconnected parts: modification and engineering of natural fibers to make them suitable as reinforcements in polymer composites, alteration of the polymer composite matrix to make it more 'green' while maintaining its properties and performance, and the development of a sheet molding compounding panel process (SMC) as a new way for continuous production of biocomposites. The research on 'designed' fiber reinforcement sought to synergistically combine up to four different fibers, which have been effectively surface treated, physically or chemically, to improve the fiber matrix adhesion in the resulting bio-composite. Research was also being conducted to modify the polyester polymer matrix through the addition of modified vegetable oils while maintaining properties and processability. The functionalization of vegetable oils is done in a manner that it is compatible with polyester resin. We have also been successful in developing a SMC process for the continuous manufacturing of bio-composites using chopped natural fibers. |
