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Thermoplastic resin Elium® for recyclable composites

Product overview
Discover Elium®, a thermoplastic resin from Arkema with unique properties, offering comparable performance to traditional resins, allowing the products and systems that use it to be recycled.
Geographic availability
  • Africa
  • Asia Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America and the Caribbean
  • Middle East
  • Northern America
  • Oceania

How Elium® thermoplastic resin works

  • Formulation: Elium® is a acrylic base polymer diluted in a reactive monomer blend with processing additives that makes it very fluide 
  • Polymerisation: a polymerisation initiator is mixed with the resin to create an high molecular weight thermoplacstic matrix. Several type of reaction and intitiators are possible
  • Process: as a thermoset resin used in composites fiber reinforced polymer. Elium® is compatible with traditional process and the parameters can be adjusted depending on the requirements (viscosity, time and temperature reactivity)
  • Applications: our solution enables to obtain high performance composites products like epoxy, polyester or vinylester with all the benefits of thermoplastic matrix. Industries: wind energy, construction and civil engineering, transportation, marine, sports and consumers goods
  • End of life: Elium® can be recycled with 2 methodologies, mechanical or chemical, to produce new recycled composites parts.

 

INNOVATIVE WITH, our magazine with the ideas of the future

Catch up on the full potential of the Elium® resin in the second issue of our INNOVATIVE WITH magazine. Thermoplastic, liquid, easy to process and designed to make composites fully recyclable, Elium® resin ticks all the boxes. A unique resin in the world for thermoplastic composites, whereas traditional thermoset-based composites, widely used in many applications for their light weight and sturdiness, have the disadvantage of not being recyclable at their end-of-life. This innovation is going to revolutionize the wind power, boat-building, hydrogen tank, and concrete reinforcement sectors. But then, for the best testimonies, read our partners’ and customers’ opinions in this latest edition!

FLIP THROUGH THE MAGAZINE AND DOWNLOAD IT

Benefits of Elium® thermoplastic resin

A composite part made with our Elium® resins:

  • Is light and tough with superior properties under impact
  • Is Styrene free, contains no BPA and cobalt salts
  • Is fully recyclable with possible separation of the fibers and reuse of the virgin resin
  • Has a cost efficient and lower Capex compared to similar thermosets parts
  • Has additional features and benefits for adhesion, welding, thermoforming.
 

 

Explore our solutions to recycle composites parts using Elium® resin

In 2017 our R&D teams were heavily involved in developing the recycling process for composite parts made from the Elium® resin via depolymerization. The principle entails coarsely crushing the parts; the Elium® resin is then heat-depolymerized so that it can be recovered and purified into a resin with the same properties as the virgin resin. Meanwhile, the remaining carbon or glass fibers can be reused.

Being able to recycle parts made from Elium® resin is a tremendous asset, in particular for wind turbine manufacturers who currently use non-recyclable epoxy resins to manufacture the blades.

 

Will composites transform industry?

Over the past few decades, composite materials have penetrated all sectors of industry. In a market ultra-dominated by thermosetting composite materials, thermoplastic composites are gradually making their mark.

And future innovations, in particular with regard to recycling, should enable them to gain a lasting foothold.

READ our article

 

 


Arkema acknowledges the support of public funding from EIT Rawmaterials, ADEME (Fr) and the French Investissements d'Avenir Programme in the development of its Elium® range of resins.

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This activity has received funding from the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union, under the Horizon 2020, the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation.

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