To reach its purpose, VIBES will initially focus on the controlled separation and recovery of composite material components by means of developing customised 100% Biobased Bonding Materials (BBM).  In addition, the project will design and develop biobased thermoset composites, with the intention to place industrial biobased and recyclable substituent composite materials in the market. The developed materials will be validated for optimum performance/ cost ratio in 3 high-demand industrial sectors: aeronautical, construction and naval industries.

Finally, a greener, fast, economic, and non-toxic recycling technology to treat the smart VIBES composites will be developed and implemented at pilot level. As a result, the decomposed materials will be recovered and valorised as new feedstocks for the development of new products. The whole system will be defined, from the dismantling of the parts of the composite, to collecting and directing to the recycling plant, receiving, handling and sorting of the materials.

Within this project, SPECIFIC POLYMERS is responsible of the chemical design of biobased dynamic thermoset materials (i.e. Covalent Adaptable Networks) that can substitute thermoset resins currently used in above mentioned fields of applications. These innovative materials will be prepared out of (i) biobased bonding materials (BBM), i.e. building-blocks containing dynamic linkages that can provide the targeted recyclability and (ii) biobased resin building-blocks that will constitute the main part of the organic matrix.

Various resins will be addressed during the project: (i) epoxy, (ii) vinylester and (iii) unsaturated polyester resins. In every case, the main goal will be to bring sustainability and recyclability into the developed materials without impacting the other main properties, whether linked to the implementation processes (rheological behavior, mix-viscosity, pot-life, etc.) or the final thermo-mechanical properties that are required in each application.