Fruit makes plastic. Orange oil replaces petroleum in epoxy resin

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The SKZ from Würzburg report the successful completion of the "OrangeOil" project. It was about sustainable epoxy resin systems. Here's what they found out...

Orange peels provide valuable bio-based epoxy resins and can be a sustainable alternative to reduce the use of petroleum-based polymers, according to the Plastic Centre SKZ. The flagship bio-economy project, carried out with project partners Fraunhofer IMWS and Türbitak Marmara Research Center, has now been successfully completed. The research was once again based on the fact that natural resources are limited. Efforts to protect the climate and the environment are therefore leading to increased demand for alternatives. In the case of polymers, which have previously been obtained from petroleum, the research project "OrangeOil", which focused on the production of environmentally friendly epoxy resin systems and formulations from renewable raw materials, was carried out.

Orange oil makes epoxy resin systems sustainable.

The exact goal of the project was to develop 2-component epoxy resin systems that consist of both an epoxy resin component and a hardener component. What's special is that the epoxy resin component was made from terpenes derived from orange peels. Orange oil is the most produced essential oil with one of the highest growth potentials on the global market. The annual growth rates are around ten percent. It is obtained by cold pressing the mature fruit peels. Natural oils and their extraction from organic waste and production residues (such as those produced during the manufacture of orange juice or jam) are of particular interest to the chemical industry.

Natural oils enhance the performance of composite materials.

During the course of the project, the Fraunhofer Institute for Microstructure of Materials and Systems (IMWS) developed two quickly heat-hardening hardener variants as well as three slow cold-hardening variants with a bio content of over 90 percent. These variants offer a sustainable alternative to conventional epoxy resin systems. Meanwhile, Tübitak MAM, a leading institute for scientific research in Turkey, focused on the extraction and purification of orange oils. A mixture with the integration of limonene epoxide and limonene dioxide in linseed oil epoxide in a proportion of up to 25 percent showed significant effects on the temperature development during the curing process as well as on the curing time, it was found. These natural oils not only offer a sustainable alternative to traditional solvents, but also give the composite materials a unique composition and performance.