Abstract
This paper presents a process where carbon fibers and hydrogen can be recovered simultaneously through a two-stage thermal treatment of an epoxy-carbon fiber composite. For this purpose, some pieces of epoxy resin reinforced with carbon fiber fabrics have been fabricated and, after curing, have been pyrolyzed in an installation consisting of two reactors. In the first one, the thermal decomposition of the resin takes place, and in the second one, the gases and vapors coming from the first reactor are thermally treated. Once this process is completed, the solid generated is oxidized with air to eliminate the resin residues and carbonaceous products from the fibers surface. The recovered carbon fiber fabrics have been reused to make new cured parts and their electrical and mechanical properties have been measured. The results show that it is possible to obtain carbon fiber fabrics that can be processed as they leave the recycling process and that retain 80% of the tensile modulus, 70% of the flexural strength, and 50% of the interlaminar shear strength. At the same time, a gaseous stream with more than 66% by volume of hydrogen can be obtained, reaching a maximum of 81.7%.
Highlights
The demand for carbon fibers continues to grow at an unstoppable rate
The temperatures used in the two reactors during the pyrolysis step are included in brackets after P1 and P2 in the table
The results presented in this article show that this method can be applied to epoxy cured samples, and that the properties of the gases and liquids generated are of similar or even better quality than those obtained with uncured epoxy-based carbon fibers reinforced plastics/polymers (CFRP) residues
Summary
The global carbon fiber market is expected to surpass 300 kt production by 2027, which supposes a 11.7 % compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for the 2020–2027 period [1] Such is the growing use of this material, that the industry itself is beginning to warn that, in the near future, the demand will exceed the supply capacity [2]. CFRP offers a ratio between weight and mechanical properties that is practically unattainable for many traditional materials, so their immersion in the aviation, automotive and large structures construction industries is relentless, in addition to many other applications [3] These types of materials are extending their use to new applications that might benefit from their lower density, such as structural composite based batteries [4], supercapacitors [5], and are being adapted to new emerging manufacturing technologies, such as 3D printing [6]
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