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Research for sustainability: Flexible epoxy resin conserves resources

Close up shot of unrecognizable scientist, in surgical gloves, putting a drop of blood or red liquid, with a pipette, on a microscope slide, for analysis.

Sustainability plays an ever greater role in the development of new chemical products.

End customer expectations, regulatory requirements and sustainability-focused research are reinforcing the trend. How do we implement that in practice? For example, with an epoxy coating developed to customer specifications which requires fewer resources during manufacture, is more durable and also more people and nature-friendly.
Working in the background, epoxies protect valuable machinery and materials: The synthetic resins are hard-wearing and durable. They are therefore used in mining, among other fields, where the constant breaking-down and crushing of stone and ore wear away at special machinery. Freight wagons and much-used concrete floors are also coated with them. Here, epoxy resins protect the materials from becoming damaged; rather than the machinery itself, the synthetic coating intended for this purpose wears out and is replaced at regular intervals. Epoxy resins are able to protect valuable pieces of equipment well, but are often expensive and can release volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which have adverse health effects. Making epoxies more environ- mentally friendly therefore makes an important contribution to sustainability in many sectors, as they are essential in many industries.
Portrait of a male Brenntag chemist in the application kitchen, Allentown, USA

Flexibility makes epoxy resins more durable

In collaboration with a customer company, Senior Chemist Jesse Walker at our lab in Allentown, Pennsylvania, identified a new, complementary technology that improves the flex- ibility of an epoxy coating. The benefits: It is more durable and therefore protects materials for longer. “With the higher quality, we reduce the resources we need to protect a machine from wear and tear throughout its lifecycle. That pays off in terms of sustainability, as our epoxy coating now means that we are conserving not just machinery, but resources as well,” explains Walker, who directed the research into the new product.
To investigate the new approach, Jesse Walker worked closely together with customers and suppliers. His many years’ ex- perience as a chemist helped him in this. His approach was to demonstrate the original product’s potential compatibility with a particular surfactant so as to improve flexibility and adhesion.
Brenntag employees creating together a new formulation, Allentown, USA
After several research experiments in the lab, he made a breakthrough and achieved the desired properties. The product is 30 to 50 percent more flexible and has shown improvements in its durability; that is, it can protect surfaces for longer. “The highly branched structure of the surfactant added to the product gives the polymers of the epoxy resin more flexibility from within,” says Walker, explaining the principle behind his product development.
Sustainability and an improvement in the product were just two factors in the development process. Jesse Walker also thought about user safety: “It was very important to me to integrate flexibility into a synthetic resin and at the same time make it safer to handle. In our research, the focus is not just on commercial success, but on user safety as well.” The new product therefore also meets high requirements placed on chemicals: “Much of my work involves reducing VOCs. Regulations ensure that the market makes more con- scious choices. Both end users and manufacturers expect chemical products with as few VOCs as possible. We also aspire to make continuous improvements in producing such materials,” says Walker in summary.

Epoxy resins

Epoxy resins are synthetic resins that become thermosets after being mixed with a hardener. After curing, they have good mechanical prop- erties and are very resistant to other chemicals and temperatures. They are used, among other things, as adhesives, casting resins, in the manufacture of rotor blades for wind turbines, as protection against corrosion or as circuit board materials.

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