Biobased, cellulose long filament-reinforced vanillin-derived epoxy composite for high-performance and flame-retardant applications

The development of high-strength and intrinsic flame-retardant natural fiber-reinforced green composite (NFRGC) is a landmark for high-performance structural applications. This paper reports a biobased, high-performance, flame-retardant composite material based on diverse bio-resources. Tough and strong cellulose long filaments (CLFs) are combined with vanillin-derived epoxy (VDE) resin to achieve high strength and flame-retardant NFRGC. The green composite was fabricated using a simple hand lay-up and compression molding technique. The green composite showed a noteworthy increment of 100.9 % flexural strength and 346 % flexural modulus compared to the neat VDE resin. Interestingly, despite the highly flammable nature of CLF, the green composite passes a V-0 rating under the UL-94 test, indicating excellent flame-retardant characteristics. Additionally, the green composite demonstrated outstanding hydrophobicity with a water contact angle of 104.2° and good chemical stability in various acidic and organic solvents. The green composite's excellent mechanical and physical properties show its potential for high-strength and flame-retardant structural applications.