FurBio project helped advance novel furfural-derived resins and biobased fiber-reinforced biocomposites
The FurBio project, coordinated by the University of Oulu, took important steps in the development of next-generation sustainable materials. Running from September 2022 to August 2025, the project supported by Business Finland focused on the research and development of novel furfural-derived resins and biobased fiber-reinforced biocomposites, aiming to deliver high-performing and simultaneously more sustainable alternatives to fossil-based commercial resins.
Furfural, a versatile platform chemical sourced from lignocellulosic biomass, formed the backbone of FurBio project’s innovation. Through advanced chemical synthesis, the researchers of the project created sulphur-bridged furfural derivatives (SFA) and their methyl esters, which served as building blocks for new polymer materials. These SFA-based epoxy resins have demonstrated improved mechanical performance, adhesive strength, and thermal stability compared to conventional fossil-based resins on the market like DGEBA (Bisphenol A diglycidyl ether).
Further ongoing studies are evaluating the performance of developed epoxy resins in glass fiber and flax fiber composites, as well as the recyclability and durability of these materials under accelerated ageing and real-world process conditions. In addition to epoxy resins, FurBio project developed furfural-based vinyl ester resins that are highly processable and thermally stable, with mechanical properties on par with commercial benchmarks.
FurBio project’s ambition extended well beyond material innovation. By leveraging Finland’s abundant biomass resources, the project aimed to promote self-sufficiency in sustainable resin production, reducing the currently heavy reliance on imported fossil feedstocks in the EU. The project was supported by Business Finland’s Co-Research funding scheme and a consortium of leading Finnish partners from multiple industrial sectors, including Brightplus, Fortum (later Chempolis), Inhan tehtaat, Metsä Spring, Valve Ventures, and Woodio.
With its multidisciplinary approach and strong industry collaboration, FurBio project was determined to validate its inventions in relevant environments, paving the way for future commercialization in applications ranging from composites and coatings to paints and adhesives. The project’s results are already outperforming fossil-based rivals in key tests, and the next phase seeks to scale-up production and reach higher technology readiness levels (TRL 6–7).
To discuss the project in much more detail, the ExpandFibre team was extremely happy to welcome the project’s leader Associate professor Juha Heiskanen from the University of Oulu, in addition to key industrial partners Matti Sonck, Business Development Manager at Chempolis, and Eemeli Hytönen, R&D Manager at Metsä Spring, to look back on the ended project. The interviewees also reflected on the project’s main outcomes and its wider impact.
Introduction from the coordinator
Project leader Juha Heiskanen from the University of Oulu described the status of the project in early October 2025: “The project officially ended at the end of August, and we’re in the process of kicking off the final reporting for the project, which should be finalised by the end of the year. We are also finishing our final experiments for the project related to the performance of glass fiber and flax fiber composites, chemical recycling of composites as well as ageing studies, so the process of gathering the final data points for the project is still very much ongoing.”
Ensuring funding for the next phase of the project remains a top priority for the project coordinator at University of Oulu, as Juha explained: “We’re currently very busy exploring various funding possibilities to carry on working with the topics explored during the FurBio project and researching them even further. We’re looking to expand the scope of the research and widen the testing for the developed epoxy resins to better assess their suitability for various end use applications – we’re especially interested to learn more on the interactions of various fibres with the developed epoxy resins. Studying carefully the possible commercialisation routes for the developed materials is also a crucial element for us, including scaling-up the production of the new resin materials and deciding on the best possible end use applications for the raw material going forward.”
Public funding will play a key enabling role in supporting the next steps as Juha described: “For the next phase of the project we have been targeting several different funding instruments from the EU incl. Interreg and EIC Pathfinder. For the Interreg instrument we are highlighting close collaboration with Swedish actors, namely the University of Luleå, who are focusing on polymer composite research, modelling of the composite structures and their manufacturing. Sweden is particularly interesting for us as there are multiple companies that are active in the field of composite materials such as Podcomp and Hitachi Energy, just to name a few. For the EIC instrument we formed a small consortium of partners from three different EU countries incl. Finland, Italy and Hungary. With our Italian partner University of Pisa, we collaborated already during FurBio, and they are specialising in composite research. Our Hungarian partner specialises in the development of fibres for biocomposites, fiber modification as well as fiber characterisation.”
Scaling-up is a crucial component when planning ahead as Juha explained: “As we are researchers, an important next step for us will be finding a suitable industrial partner to scale-up the manufacturing processes that we have developed during FurBio. We have already had very good initial discussion with the FurBio partner Chempolis on this topic, for example. During the project we were largely operating in quite small laboratory environment, meaning reactors of approximately 100-200g, whereas with the next steps we would be targeting to be able to operate in a scale of 50-100kg, essentially scaling-up the entire concept by a factor of 500.”
Roles of the partners
Matti Sonck from Chempolis shared his thoughts on the ended project: “Chempolis had a clear supporting role in the FurBio project. We saw great value in supporting a university-led R&D initiative, especially which focused on expanding the application areas of furfural – one of the main products of our developed technology platform. Our services and expertise could also help to support the scaling-up of the FurBio technology concept in the future, which is also an important topic to follow for us at Chempolis. I also want to highlight that we had an excellent Finnish value chain in the project, and for us it was great to connect with partners from previously not so well-known industries, such as boat manufacturing, for example.”
Eemeli Hytönen also shared some insights from the point of view of Metsä Spring: “For us at Metsä Group, we were most interested in the role of the binder material in the composite matrix. Unfortunately, within this project we did not advance as far as utilising Metsä Group’s side streams as raw materials in composite materials, but we still learned a lot and were very happy to collaborate with the project partners around the FurBio concept. We have previously identified University of Oulu as a strategic partner for us, and FurBio was one of the first Business Finland funded R&D projects that took that partnership forward in a meaningful way. The project really expanded our knowledge on the topics of resins and biocomposites, and especially how complex chemistry is so strongly linked to the forest industry.”
Juha wanted to share some insights about the other partners of the project: ”Woodio manufactures wood-based composite materials as a more ecological alternative to ceramics and stone in both bathroom and design application, so they were a logical fit for the project. Inhan tehtaat has been very interested in exploring more bio-based materials for the production of their Yamarin boats, and I believe that FurBio played an important role in increasing that interest even further (see press release from Feb 2025). Brightplus is an Oulu-based growth company, and they appreciated being able to access the latest knowhow related to the topics of the project as well as creating completely new connections with the other project partners. Valve Ventures is a Helsinki-based angel and early-stage venture investor, who have been collaborating with Woodio, making them a good fit to be also involved with the project, to both grow their network and learn more about the key industries of the project.”
International collaboration also played a key role in the project, as Juha explained: “In their funding rules Business Finland is placing a special emphasis on international collaboration. During FurBio we had excellent collaboration with two key international collaborators - Prof. Mikael Hedenqvist at KTH in Sweden and Prof. Andrea Lazzeri at the University of Pisa in Italy. Prior to the project kicking off, we had already collaborated with KTH and thanks to them we were able to connect with the University of Pisa. Although Business Finland does not grant funding for non-Finnish partners, the project funding enabled our researchers to visit Italy for two months and Sweden for approximately one month to carry out vital research for the project. The help and guidance our researchers received in Sweden and Italy is greatly appreciated by us at the University of Oulu. Building common trust via successful project collaboration between research institutions is extremely important, which in turn helps to produce great research results, and supports us moving forward together towards new R&D initiatives, such as EU-funded projects.”
Reflecting on the project’s results
It was important to also look back and discuss the impact of the project’s results on a wider scale, as Eemeli reflected: “The researchers of the project did great work, and the experimental work carried out during the project produced technically promising results with great industrial potential. From a technical performance perspective these new materials are very exciting. Coming from a large industrial company, I’m also very interested in seeing how big the potential market for these new biomaterials could be internationally.”
Matti continued: “The starting point for the project was very important and topical. It’s very important to advance the development of lignocellulose-based chemicals as well as widen their application areas towards new areas. University-driven R&D work is an important mechanism, and as Eemeli mentioned the technical results surpassed our initial expectations. The overall impact of the project is of course a much more complex topic involving multiple considerations related to lifecycle analysis (LCA), techno-economic analysis (TEA) as well as the commercial potential of the developed materials and processes.”
Juha shared his views on the topic: ”We have not previously seen so many research projects like FurBio. What’s perhaps the most challenging is that although we are operating within the field of biorefining, we are also simultaneously going into extremely complex chemistries. To produce furfural of required purity from biomass, the whole processing path can be considered as being part of the chemical industry, and the modern chemical industry is very much based on using fossil-based raw materials. Although there is some emerging interest in bio-based materials within the chemical industry, there seems to be a tendency to seek out bio-based raw material alternatives to produce already known chemicals. Within FurBio we approached chemicals which have no fossil-based counterparts on the market, so entering the market will always be more challenging with a completely new product.”
Eemeli continued: “This very much true. When you start developing something completely new, it’s always challenging even though there might be familiar process steps. In the case of FurBio, if we think about the production of novel biocomposite materials, process integration is an elementary component of the overall concept. If we think about process design, the optimal locations of composite manufacturing and furfural production are both key considerations. Understanding the entire production chain in industrial scale is fundamental when thinking about scaling-up the concept in the future.”
Final words
To conclude Juha wanted to express his sincere thanks to all the FurBio partners: ”I’m very thankful to all the industrial FurBio partners for enabling the success of the project. The multiple discussions we have had over the last three years are immeasurably valuable and will help us to take the work forward. The biggest thank you goes of course to the funding body Business Finland – this project type has been very good for us, and we appreciate the trust towards the University of Oulu for leading this initiative. The amount of funding we received for the project is also greatly appreciated, as it really enabled us to carry out meaningful as well as impactful research work.”
Eemeli continued: ”This was a great project. I also want to point out that commonly in Business Finland projects the research component is split up between several research organisations, whereas in the case of FurBio, the University of Oulu team was able to concentrate on the research solely by themselves, which produced excellent results. The industrial consortium was excellent having partners from multiple different sectors, which was highly beneficial. We must recognise that this is a challenging field, and there are not that many potential chemical industry players who could industrialise the developed technology, but steps were taken in the right direction during the project largely by the University of Oulu team, which I’m thankful for.”
Matti closed the interview: ”I sincerely hope this topic receives additional funding and projects in the future, and the excellent international connections built during FurBio enable the development of even more fruitful connections. During FurBio we were able to get the ball rolling with a strong Finnish consortium, and I’m sure bigger and better things are in store for the future on the international stage.”
FurBio project factsheet:
Project full name: Furfural-derived Resins and Biocomposites (FurBio)
Project duration: 01.09.2022 - 31.08.2025
Project funding: Business Finland Co-Research (664 000 EUR)
Project coordinator: University of Oulu, Research unit of Sustainable Chemistry within the Faculty of Technology (project led by Associate professor Juha Heiskanen)
Project partners: Brightplus, Fortum (later Chempolis), Inhan tehtaat Oy Ab (Inha Works Ltd.), Metsä Spring, Valve Ventures and Woodio.