Wait, You Can Recycle Carbon Fiber Composites?! Subtitle: A study in the chemical recycling of cured composites and manufacturing processes for reclaimed carbon fiber.

Research Mentor(s)

Nicole Larson

Description

High-performance carbon fiber-epoxy composites are commonly used in airplanes, boats, and sports equipment due to their high strength to weight ratio. However, there is no large-scale recycling system in place to reuse the energy and cost-intensive fibers once they reach their end of life. Our research demonstrates how the current linear lifecycle can be transformed into a circular lifecycle. The first half of this research focused on chemically recycling cured carbon fiber and epoxy composites using a green solvent-catalyst-based system. Since summer 2021, our chemical recycling teams have successfully depolymerized the crosslinked epoxy network and reclaimed over two pounds of carbon fiber. The second half of this research is to identify processes and applications for reusing recycled fibers generated by the recycling teams. Currently, we are manufacturing compression molded composites with these recycled fibers using a biobased epoxy and we will be comparing these to virgin fibers to help determine potential applications for this recyclate.

Document Type

Event

Start Date

May 2022

End Date

May 2022

Location

Carver Gym (Bellingham, Wash.)

Department

CSE -Engineering and Design

Genre/Form

student projects; posters

Type

Image

Rights

Copying of this document in whole or in part is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood, however, that any copying or publication of this document for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, shall not be allowed without the author’s written permission.

Language

English

Format

application/pdf

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May 18th, 9:00 AM May 18th, 5:00 PM

Wait, You Can Recycle Carbon Fiber Composites?! Subtitle: A study in the chemical recycling of cured composites and manufacturing processes for reclaimed carbon fiber.

Carver Gym (Bellingham, Wash.)

High-performance carbon fiber-epoxy composites are commonly used in airplanes, boats, and sports equipment due to their high strength to weight ratio. However, there is no large-scale recycling system in place to reuse the energy and cost-intensive fibers once they reach their end of life. Our research demonstrates how the current linear lifecycle can be transformed into a circular lifecycle. The first half of this research focused on chemically recycling cured carbon fiber and epoxy composites using a green solvent-catalyst-based system. Since summer 2021, our chemical recycling teams have successfully depolymerized the crosslinked epoxy network and reclaimed over two pounds of carbon fiber. The second half of this research is to identify processes and applications for reusing recycled fibers generated by the recycling teams. Currently, we are manufacturing compression molded composites with these recycled fibers using a biobased epoxy and we will be comparing these to virgin fibers to help determine potential applications for this recyclate.