Reuse of recovered recyclate from infusible thermoplastic carbon fiber composites to reduce virgin material usage in reprocessed composites

Kurzfassung

This work presents a novel combinatory approach in relation to our previous work, exploiting the previously demonstrated recovery of Elium matrix from CFRP laminates (simulating CFRP waste) and its incorporation as Elium monomer replacement for subsequent CFRP composite manufacture with reduced raw monomer material usage. Our previous efforts provided a proof of concept for the addition of neat pre-polymerised Elium recyclate from polymer production waste, whereas it was acetone-extracted CFRP Elium matrix used here as monomer substitute. The recovery was achieved by dissolving Elium CFRP in acetone to separate the fibers and recover the matrix, followed by incorporating the recovered matrix in granulate form (hereafter recovered recyclate) in the resin mixture for manufacturing new composites. This was carried out by substituting a fraction of the Elium monomer with recovered recyclate at different weight fractions (2.5 - 7.5 wt%) and dissolving it in the Elium monomer before polymerization. It was possible to integrate up to 5 wt% of recovered recyclate during composite manufacturing, resulting in laminates with comparable matrix molecular weight and thermal properties, improved thermal stability and comparable mechanical performance to the virgin counterpart.