A key pillar of BIO-UPTAKE is designing materials with circularity in mind and today, we highlight the innovative work of SPECIFIC POLYMERS on Covalent Adaptable Network (CAN) resins.
Their objective within the project is ambitious: to develop a bio-based resin capable of reversible bonding, enabling remanufacturing, reuse, and recycling of composite structures.

🔬 What’s the innovation?
SPECIFIC POLYMERS has been working on the fabrication of 3R-CAN resins based on Diels–Alder chemistry. The team developed a reversible adhesive formulation combining a furan-modified bio-based epoxy resin with a bis-maleimide hardener.
Their formulation was tested on aluminium substrates using pull-off tests, successfully demonstrating the thermoreversibility of adhesion. When heated to around 110 °C, the bonded parts can be cleanly debonded.

SPECIFIC POLYMERS ’ work perfectly illustrates how smart chemistry can enable sustainable manufacturing and bring circular-by-design materials closer to market reality.