RESIN glues and coatings can now be made from sugar instead of refined
petroleum products, according to a chemist in the US who has applied for a
patent on the new process.
Navzer Sachinvala of the US Department of Agriculture says that sugar-based
epoxies can do everything that existing oil-based epoxies can, while providing
sugar farmers and producers with a money-spinner. The new glues are
environmentally sound too, since sugar is a renewable resource.
In standard glues, epoxy groups form polymers with a petrochemical, normally
epichlorhydrin and bisphenol-A, derived from oil. In Sachinvala鈥檚 glue, epoxy
groups are attached to sucrose molecules instead of a petrochemical, using
reagents including oxygenated vinegar. By varying the constituents, hundreds of
glues and coatings with different properties can be created. But Sachinvala
won鈥檛 reveal more details until the patent is granted.
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鈥淎ny of the materials available in oil-based epoxies can be made from
sucrose,鈥� he says, claiming that sugar-based epoxies are stronger and hold up
better at temperatures over 200 掳C compared with oil-based epoxies.
The USDA has just signed a deal with Cajun Materials Group of Louisiana to
commercialise sucrose glues, which it plans to sell in the familiar twin tubes
of resin and hardener. 鈥淏ut self-curing sugar-based epoxies, in one tube, are
already under development,鈥� Sachinvala says.