Today, we are proud to highlight another significant scientific contribution from the Bernal Institute, University of Limerick, this time led by Clotilde Techoueyres, supervised by Anne Beaucamp Mc Loughlin and Maurice N Collins. It is titled:
“𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗹𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝘆𝗻𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝗶𝗼𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗲-𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝗶𝘇𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗯𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗶𝗯𝗿𝗲-𝗿𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝗶𝗼-𝗲𝗽𝗼𝘅𝗶𝗲𝘀.”

This work addresses a central challenge in sustainable composites: how fibre surface treatments, known as sizing agents, influence the performance of bio-based epoxy systems.

🔬 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘦?
The study compares two types of sizing agents applied to carbon fibres:
- a bio-based imine sizing
- a synthetic amine sizing
Both were evaluated for their impact on:
- fibre surface morphology and roughness (via SEM & AFM)
- wettability and surface interactions
- overall composite performance when combined with a bio-based epoxy resin (Infugreen 810)

If you're interested in finding out more, you can read the article here👉 The influence of synthetic amine and biobased imine-based sizing on the interface of carbon fibre-reinforced bio-epoxies - ScienceDirect

🌱 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳?
These insights are essential for designing more efficient surface treatments that improve the performance of bio-based composites, a key step toward creating high-performance, fully sustainable material systems.
This publication demonstrates once again the value of academic research in strengthening the foundations of BIO-UPTAKE.