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预浸料，在室温下具有极长的保质期，同时保持在低温下固化的能力。这将利用与现有材料相比的重大竞争和环境优势，现有材料需要冷冻储存、昂贵的运输和仔细的生产管理。预浸料材料通常由预先浸渍树脂的纤维(无论是纺织品还是单向纤维)组成。该树脂体系包含一种固化剂，当加热时，该固化剂会发生交联，并形成固体固化复合材料。然而，大多数预浸料在环境温度下固化缓慢--根据具体配方的不同，通常是3-30天--因此必须保存在冰箱中。这给制造商带来了巨大的成本、生产挑战和低效率。这个项目雄心勃勃的目标是打破寿命和固化温度之间的联系，特别是生产在低温下固化的粘性活性预浸料，而不需要冷冻储存。这将通过配方化学和预浸料加工方面的关键创新来实现，以生产具有完全不同行为的新型材料。新型预浸料将代表着复合材料制造领域的重大突破，并为模塑公司节省大量成本和提高生产率。这项技术还将减少被送往垃圾填埋场的预浸料废物的数量，并消除冷冻储存的需要，这将产生重大的经济和环境后果。此外，这些材料将能够运往更远的地方，为英国的出口打开机会，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.