Substituting the Epoxy Curing Agent with a Greener Solution-Towards Sustainability

In past two decades, the field of polymer composite materials has gained significant advancements transforming various industries and applications. These polymer composites are comprised of polymer matrix and reinforcing material. The matrix is responsible for providing resistance to impact, wear, and corrosion. The reinforcements like fibers, particles or fillers are usually used for enhancing the material properties. The polymer matrix is made up of two fundamental components, the epoxy resin and the hardener (curing agent). The conventional resins and hardeners are produced by chemical and petroleum industries. These industries make use of non-renewable energy resources like fossil fuels for manufacturing the resins and curing agents. The ever-rising environmental issues have raised sustainability concerns over using fossil-fuels. In addition, most of the conventional curing agents used in epoxy resins are highly noxious in nature. Studies have shown that these curing agents are capable of causing skin allergies and asthma. Recently, the composite market has seen the origination of green epoxy resin that are capable of reducing these toxic effects but have few shortcomings including its cost and the mechanical performance of cured epoxy resin. On the other hand, there is dearth in investigating the evolution of green or sustainable curing agents known as bio-binders. This paper presents the prediction of mechanical properties by replacement of conventional curing agent with amine derivative synthesized from bio-degradable resource in a thermoset epoxy resin system. The properties are predicted by molecular dynamics simulations using Materials Studio Software. The research showed promising outcomes without the loss of mechanical properties in comparison to the conventional epoxy resin and hardener.