Technological watch
Connora Technologies and Aditya Birla Chemicals partner for recyclable composites
22 Jul 2019Connora Technologies and Aditya Birla Chemicals’ Epoxy Division announced a joint development agreement to scale-up the manufacturing of Connora’s recyclable epoxy thermoset technology called Recyclamine and the two companies are now developing metric-ton scale manufacturing processes for this technology.
Connora Technologies and Aditya Birla Chemicals partner for recyclable composites
Connora Technologies, Inc. and Aditya Birla Chemicals’ Epoxy Division announced a joint development agreement to scale-up the manufacturing of Connora’s recyclable epoxy thermoset technology called Recyclamine. The two companies are now developing metric-ton scale manufacturing processes for Recyclamine, previously demonstrated at pilot scale. Connora has developed a novel proprietary amine synthesis platform to make Recyclamines. Aditya Birla Chemicals, a top multinational manufacturer of epoxy resins and curing agents, is contributing infrastructure, capabilities, and resources to Connora towards scale-up and commercialization of Recyclamine technology.
Connora’s CEO, Dr. Rey Banatao, explains:“As a start-up company, we have been working extremely hard over the past several years to gain the validation of a large and well respected global manufacturing partner such as Aditya Birla Chemicals. Their decades of expertise in scale-up manufacturing and sales of epoxy resins, on a global scale, is invaluable to Connora at this stage of technology commercialization.”
Co-founder and CTO, Dr. Stefan Pastine adds:“From the start, we knew the chemistry would have to be designed to be industrially scalable, but it was no small task. The fact that Aditya Birla Chemicals believes in our mission of making thermosets recyclable, and is willing to invest in its development, is tremendous validation.”
Polyamines are used in diverse applications from fuel additives and lubricants, to cross-linkers in high performance thermoset plastics, such as epoxy resin or polyurethanes. Epoxy thermosets are traditionally the material of choice in adhesive, coating, and lightweighting in the electronics, aerospace, automotive, windmill, and sporting goods industries. Connora’s Recyclamine synthesis platform provides a modular and rapid chemistry approach for making new polyamine molecules. A unique and patented feature of Recyclamines is their ability to create cured resins that can be recycled into a reusable thermoplastic, thus enabling true ‘end-of-life’ recycling and ‘zero-waste manufacturing’ in the thermoset composites industry.
Pradip Kumar Dubey, President of Aditya Birla Chemicals Epoxy Division says:“We had our eye on Connora from its early days, due the potential disruption their technology could bring in an industry that hasn’t changed all that much in the past 30 years. Perhaps just as remarkable as what Recyclamine technology could enable for the industry, is the fact that Connora has devised a completely new platform to manufacture polyamines, and one that doesn’t have the same toxicity or handling risks that are typically associated with the manufacture of the conventional amines used in the epoxy industry today.”
The efficient recycling of composite materials should have a positive impact in the automotive and aerospace industries, where the trend to make lighter, stronger, and more energy efficient vehicles is driving growth in the use of carbon fiber composite materials. Composites Industry reports state that the manufacturing of composites today generates 5-40% of raw inputs as waste materials, for which there are few options in recycling or reuse. Making composites more recyclable through the use of Recyclamine should help reduce the overall cost of manufacturing composite products, by re-integrating composite waste and reducing landfill costs.
Connora Technologies and Aditya Birla Chemicals partner for recyclable composites
Connora Technologies, Inc. and Aditya Birla Chemicals’ Epoxy Division announced a joint development agreement to scale-up the manufacturing of Connora’s recyclable epoxy thermoset technology called Recyclamine. The two companies are now developing metric-ton scale manufacturing processes for Recyclamine, previously demonstrated at pilot scale. Connora has developed a novel proprietary amine synthesis platform to make Recyclamines. Aditya Birla Chemicals, a top multinational manufacturer of epoxy resins and curing agents, is contributing infrastructure, capabilities, and resources to Connora towards scale-up and commercialization of Recyclamine technology.
Connora’s CEO, Dr. Rey Banatao, explains:“As a start-up company, we have been working extremely hard over the past several years to gain the validation of a large and well respected global manufacturing partner such as Aditya Birla Chemicals. Their decades of expertise in scale-up manufacturing and sales of epoxy resins, on a global scale, is invaluable to Connora at this stage of technology commercialization.”
Co-founder and CTO, Dr. Stefan Pastine adds:“From the start, we knew the chemistry would have to be designed to be industrially scalable, but it was no small task. The fact that Aditya Birla Chemicals believes in our mission of making thermosets recyclable, and is willing to invest in its development, is tremendous validation.”
Polyamines are used in diverse applications from fuel additives and lubricants, to cross-linkers in high performance thermoset plastics, such as epoxy resin or polyurethanes. Epoxy thermosets are traditionally the material of choice in adhesive, coating, and lightweighting in the electronics, aerospace, automotive, windmill, and sporting goods industries. Connora’s Recyclamine synthesis platform provides a modular and rapid chemistry approach for making new polyamine molecules. A unique and patented feature of Recyclamines is their ability to create cured resins that can be recycled into a reusable thermoplastic, thus enabling true ‘end-of-life’ recycling and ‘zero-waste manufacturing’ in the thermoset composites industry.
Pradip Kumar Dubey, President of Aditya Birla Chemicals Epoxy Division says:“We had our eye on Connora from its early days, due the potential disruption their technology could bring in an industry that hasn’t changed all that much in the past 30 years. Perhaps just as remarkable as what Recyclamine technology could enable for the industry, is the fact that Connora has devised a completely new platform to manufacture polyamines, and one that doesn’t have the same toxicity or handling risks that are typically associated with the manufacture of the conventional amines used in the epoxy industry today.”
The efficient recycling of composite materials should have a positive impact in the automotive and aerospace industries, where the trend to make lighter, stronger, and more energy efficient vehicles is driving growth in the use of carbon fiber composite materials. Composites Industry reports state that the manufacturing of composites today generates 5-40% of raw inputs as waste materials, for which there are few options in recycling or reuse. Making composites more recyclable through the use of Recyclamine should help reduce the overall cost of manufacturing composite products, by re-integrating composite waste and reducing landfill costs.
This project has been co-funded with the support of the LIFE financial instrument of the European Union [LIFE17 ENV/ES/000438] Life programme
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