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It's Just String & Glue. This is a newsletter about composites, the strings, the glues, and the business.


Carbon Nanotubes – What Are They Good For?
#composites, #sustainability, #energyefficiency, #renewableenergy, #fibers, #resins Sorry about the rock and roll reference here, but there is so much hype about carbon nanotubes, I thought I would set the record a little bit more in actual applications of these interesting little beasties without all of the hyperbole that often accompanies any mention of them. First, what are these things? If you remember some of my earlier posts when I talk about “organic carbon” and the
Jun 177 min read


What do I Mean when I Say Roadmap
#composites, #sustainability, #energyefficiency, #renewableenergy, #fibers, #resins As promised, this post will be about the roadmap that I keep talking about for the industry, and what exactly I mean when I say roadmap. And this will be the sixth and final blog that is from my newly released book, “Sustainable Composite Materials: A Roadmap to a Circular Economy”. I wanted to leave my audience with a sense of what my new book is about to make sure that everyone that reads
May 611 min read


A Little Update on Natural fiber and Plant Resin Composites
#composites, #sustainability, #energyefficiency, #renewableenergy, #fibers, #resins This post, again, is at least loosely based on what I wrote in my new book, “Sustainable Composite Materials: A Roadmap to a Circular Economy” released on April 6 by McFarland, my publisher. And, if you are going to SAMPE in Seattle next week, I will be doing a book signing there on Tuesday April 28 in the SAMPE Spotlight Theater. From “A Closer Look at Plant-Based Composites” AZO Materials
Apr 299 min read


How to Make Composites Processing and Fabrication Sustainable
#composites, #sustainability, #energyefficiency, #renewableenergy, #fabrication, #processequipment This week’s newsletter is the third in my series laying out the roadmap to sustainability in composites. But before I get started, I need to let everyone know that my second book, “Sustainable Composite Materials, A Roadmap to a Circular Economy” is officially released as of April 6 (Monday). The book covers the watershed of the issue of sustainability for these wonderful mate
Apr 88 min read


Natural Carbon Fiber Precursors – How About Thin Air?
#composites, #sustainability, #energyefficiency, #renewableenergy, #fibers, #resins Yes, in fact, a company in Houston called Mars Materials, Inc. which is a public benefit corporation incorporated in Texas, teamed up with the Textile Innovation Engine of North Carolina and NC State University to take CO 2 captured from the atmosphere and ammonia/bio-based feedstocks and turn it into acrylonitrile. The Textile Innovation Center at NC State tested the Mars material and found
Jan 286 min read


A Few More Tidbits in Composites Sustainability News
#composites, #sustainability, #energyefficiency, #renewableenergy, #fibers, #resins I received my November Issue of the Composites World magazine (electronically of course) this week and as usual it had a couple of interesting developments in the world of composite materials sustainability, one of which is sort of fun – if you like water sports. So, I thought I would write about these and a couple of other things that I came across in my information feed about composites. A
Nov 12, 20255 min read


Collection of Composites Sustainability Tidbits from Last Two Weeks
#composites, #sustainability, #energyefficiency, #renewableenergy, #fibers, #resins Since this is supposed to be a “newsletter” I thought I would collect some tidbits of news on the composites sustainability front that have come across my feed in the last couple of weeks. I did want to get a couple of state of the art posts done, so the last two weeks I haven’t been keeping everyone up with the latest news. And there has been some news to keep up with, especially in the rec
Nov 5, 20256 min read


There’s a New Entrant in the Pyrolysis/Thermolysis Business
#composites, #sustainability, #energyefficiency, #renewableenergy, #fibers, #resins I read this week both in Composites World and in JEC...
Sep 17, 20256 min read


Recyclable Wind Turbine Blades have Arrived
#composites, #sustainability, #energyefficiency, #renewableenergy, #fibers, #resins I saw articles this week in two of the industry...
Sep 10, 20256 min read


Update on Microwave Processing to Make Carbon Fiber
#composites, #sustainability, #carbonfiber, #microwaves, #energyefficiency, #renewableenergy I have written about this topic before, but...
Aug 19, 20256 min read


The International Conference on Composite Materials – And What’s Coming Soon
#composites, #sustainability, #energyefficiency, #renewableenergy, #fibers, #resins I gave my paper at the International Conference on...
Aug 13, 20257 min read


Sustainability – A Look at Energy Efficiency in Composites Manufacturing
#composites, #sustainability, #energyefficiency, #renewableenergy, #fibermanufacture, #resinmanufacture This week I thought I would touch...
Apr 7, 202510 min read

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