Green Composites

Renewable materials like furfuryl alcohol, palmitic acid, and jute were used for the first time to develop green biocomposites.

Furfuryl ester of palmitic acid was prepared by enzymatic route and was used as the matrix material for developing green composite materials.

The Diels?Alder reaction was carried out between furfuryl palmitate and maleic anhydride which resulted in a new material. Crystal growth was observed on Diels?Alder reaction along with a noncrystalline, semisolid part. The Diels?Alder product was characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), IR, optical microscopy. Jute reinforced composites were prepared by solvent impregnation method followed by compression molding. The resulting composites were tested for their mechanical properties and the fiber/matrix bonding was investigated under SEM.

Reference: Development of Green Composites from Furfuryl Palmitate – Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research (ACS Publications)
Photo: Learning from Nature