Loading ...BASF has been marketing its green Acrodur resin in Europe for several years now, but with the United States on a green kick, the company felt it was the right time to introduce the material to the American market.
The Acrodur acrylic thermoset is designed to produce prepreg/semi-finished rollstock or blanks, as well as cross-link at temperatures above 120C to produce a durable thermoset. The resin’s high wet-out of natural fibers and ability to form chemical as well as mechanical bonds to the reinforcement allows for production of composites with very high fiber loadings, yielding lightweight parts with high stiffness in thin walls.
When asked how easily manufacturers could incorporate Acrodur, Marketing Development Manager Gero Nordmann says it varies greatly based on the processes used. “I would say 50 percent of our prospective customers have equipment where they could use the resin as a drop-in, but the other half would have to change their processes,” he says. Those using wet materials such as formaldehyde resins, epoxy resins and polyurethanes fall in the former category and those using powder applications or dry resin applications would fall into the latter.
The company is targeting the resin largely for automotive applications, due to the current U.S. auto culture. “We realized the U.S. auto industry was rebooting, and the focus was supposed to be green and lightweight, with better materials and better systems.”
The company’s initial efforts to gain headway into the market came as a result of working with BMW on a door panel for its 7 series luxury sedan. The compression-molded interior, a recent Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) award-winner, also incorporates natural fibers.
The company is also looking strongly into things connected with LEED, the green buildings rating system that gives credit for using sustainable products. The company passed California’s Section 1350 test, which Nordmann calls the most stringent in the world, with no emissions. BASF hopes to parlay these results to further implement the material in such applications as building interiors, furniture, ceilings, walls, and floors to leave their competition green with envy.
