LCA Comparison of Traditional and Bio-Based Epoxy Resin for Aerospace Composite Materials

This paper evaluates the environmental sustainability of a carbon fibre reinforced composite panel manufactured using a bio-based, recyclable and reprocessable epoxy resin synthetized from phloroglucinol, compared to one produced with traditional epoxy, through life cycle assessment. Results show a 2.42% reduction in global warming potential and an 80.7% decrease in freshwater eutrophication, enabled by bioremediation from brown algae cultivation, the source of phloroglucinol. However, increases of 1.67% and 9.76% in human toxicity for carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic categories, respectively, were observed due to solvent use at laboratory scale, which still requires optimization. The findings highlight the potential of bio-refinery processes for carbon-neutral composites, identifying key challenges for future development and scale-up.