Ambient storage prepreg for composites with reduced cost and environmental impact (Ambipreg)

该项目的目标是开发一种复合材料预浸料，该预浸料在室温下具有非常长的保质期，同时保持在低温下固化的能力。与需要冷冻储存、昂贵的运输和精心的生产管理的现有材料相比，这将发挥主要的竞争优势和环境优势。预浸材料通常由预浸有树脂的纤维（纺织品或单向纤维）组成。该树脂系统含有硬化剂，该硬化剂在加热时交联并形成固体固化复合材料。然而，大多数的番茄酱在环境温度下会慢慢固化--根据具体的配方，典型的“保质期”为3-30天--所以必须储存在冰箱里。这给制造商带来了巨大的成本、生产挑战和效率低下。材料储存或使用不当不可避免地会成为废料，或者更糟的是，不合格/不安全的产品。该项目的雄心勃勃的目标是打破寿命和固化温度之间的联系，特别是生产粘性，反应性凝胶，在低温下固化，而不需要冷冻储存。这将通过配方化学和预浸料加工的关键创新来实现，以生产具有完全不同行为的新型材料。新型预浸料将代表复合材料制造的重大突破，并为模塑公司提供重大的成本节约和生产力提高。该技术还将减少进入垃圾填埋场的废弃预浸料的数量，并消除对冷冻储存的需求，这具有显著的经济和环境后果。此外，这些材料将能够运往更远的地方，为英国的出口开辟机会，创造新的收入和就业机会。

The objective of this project is to develop a composite prepreg that has an exceptionally long shelf-life at room temperature while retaining the ability to cure at low temperature. This will leverage major competitive and environmental advantages over incumbent materials which require frozen storage, expensive transport and careful production management.Prepreg materials typically consist of fibres (either textile or unidirectional) pre-impregnated with a resin. The resin system contains a hardener that, upon heating, crosslinks and forms a solid cured composite. However, most prepregs cure slowly at ambient temperature - typical 'outlife' 3-30 days depending on the specific formulation - so must be stored in freezers. This creates significant costs, production challenges and inefficiencies for manufacturers. Materials stored or used improperly inevitably become scrap or, worse, non-conforming/unsafe products.The ambitious aim of this project is to break the link between outlife and cure temperature, specifically to produce tacky, reactive prepregs that cure at low temperatures without necessitating frozen storage. This will be achieved through key innovations in formulation chemistry and prepreg processing to produce novel materials with completely different behaviour.The novel prepregs would represent a significant breakthrough in composite manufacturing, and provide major cost savings and productivity improvements for moulding companies. This technology will also reduce the amount of waste prepreg going to landfill and eliminate the need for frozen storage, which have significant economic and environmental consequences. In addition, the materials will be able to be shipped further afield, opening up opportunities for UK exports, creating new revenue and jobs.