Novel Thermoplastic Composites Strengthened with Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Epoxy Composite Waste Rods: Development and Characterization

Abstract

The increasing use of carbon fiber and epoxy resin composite materials yields an increase in the amount of waste. Therefore, we present a solution consisting of composites manufactured by hot pressing, employing polyamides (either PA11 or PA12) and a mechanically recycled carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) as reinforcement. The main objectives are to study the manufacturing of those composites, to evaluate the fiber distribution, and to perform a mechanical, dynamical, and thermomechanical characterizations. The X-ray micro-computed tomography (μCT) shows that the fibers are well-distributed, maintaining a homogeneous fiber volume fraction across the material. The variability in the results is typical of discontinuous fiber composites in which the fibers, although oriented, are not as homogeneously distributed as in a continuous fiber composite. The mechanical and dynamic properties barely differ between the two sets of composites. A dynamic-mechanical analysis revealed that the glass transition temperature (Tg) increases slightly for both composites, compared to the polymers. These results illustrate the viability of the recycling and reuse route for preventing the deterioration of carbon fibers and promoting the subsequent reduction in the environmental impact by employing a thermoplastic matrix.

Tensile, impact, and the damping performance of woven flax‐carbon hybrid polyamide biocomposites

“…The first source of damping in composite materials is the viscoelastic nature of the matrix, which is more pronounced in polymeric matrix composites. This behavior for PA11 has been previously studied through dynamic‐mechanical analysis 65 . The storage and loss moduli for PA11 were 900 and 95 MPa, respectively.…”

“…This behavior for PA11 has been previously studied through dynamicmechanical analysis. 65 The storage and loss moduli for PA11 were 900 and 95 MPa, respectively. A higher storage than loss modulus indicates that PA11 can store more elastic energy without deformation, resulting in a lower damping capacity.…”

Novel Sustainable Composites Incorporating a Biobased Thermoplastic Matrix and Recycled Aerospace Prepreg Waste: Development and Characterization

“…The polyamide 11 (PA11) employed was supplied by Arkema (Arkema, Barcelona, Spain) in the form of pellets, which were carefully stored to avoid exposure to direct sunlight. PA11 was chosen as the matrix material due to being biobased and to its relatively low melting point (T m ), which results in lower energy consumption during processing, as well as its exceptional mechanical properties, including high tensile strength, impact and fatigue resistance, chemical and aging resistance, and low moisture absorption [ 26 , 32 ].…”

“…Unlike thermal and chemical recycling, mechanical recycling avoids high energy requirements and scalability issues while at the same time reducing the emission of pollutant gases and the problems associated with the disposal of chemicals and solvents. A significant objective of mechanical recycling is to preserve the maximum performance of the recycled materials, ensuring their suitability for high-value applications [ 26 , 27 ].…”

Recycling Carbon Fiber from Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Polymer and Its Reuse in Photocatalysis: A Review

“…The results showed that adding thermoplastic resin to epoxy resin could promote the recyclability and reuse of thermoplastic composites. In addition, Butenegro et al [ 100 ] manufactured composites with polyamides (PA11 or PA12) as reinforcement and verified the feasibility of this recycling and reuse route. The study showed that the deterioration of CFs was prevented by the thermoplastic matrix, and the environmental impact was reduced.…”