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After 2 years of development and more than a year of testing, PRF Composite Materials (Poole, Dorset, U.K.) is launching the epoxy prepreg system RP5365, a mid-temperature cure component prepreg system with an out-life of 1 year (365 days) at 20°C.

Building on PRF’s sustainability philosophy — to look at its prepreg materials from every angle — PRF’s R&D team have developed RP5365 to virtually eliminate the need for the constructor to have any freezing or refrigeration for this product, while still maintaining the curing characteristics of PRF’s standard component prepregs and good mechanical properties for structural applications.

Providing the materials are stored in reasonable ambient temperatures, this prepreg should help reduce or even eliminate the need for refrigerated transportation as well, subject to the maximum temperatures it might be exposed to. The PRF team also envisaged that this material can provide significant benefits for component manufacture in hotter climates, where standard out-life can be very limited and difficult to manage.

“We believe that while bio-based materials will play an important role in the future of composites, there is still much more we can do today to improve sustainability using well-established materials — without compromising their high performance,” says Robert Burnell, CEO and head of product development at PRF. “These are changes we can implement immediately to start reducing our environmental impact. By developing a product like RP5365, we can achieve significant environmental benefits, including reduced energy consumption, lower fluorocarbon emissions and offer overall cost savings for our customers.”