Importance of chemical pretreatment for carbon fibre recycled from composite by pyrolysis

Siqi Hao, Kok H. Wong, Xiaoling Liu, Chris D. Rudd

Research output: Contribution to conferencePaperpeer-review

Abstract

Recycling of carbon fibre remains one of the imminent global research topics in composite engineering. This work focuses on recovery of carbon fibres from carbon fibre reinforced plastic using a combination of a chemical pre-treatment followed by a pyrolysis process. The chemical pretreatment was achieved using a zinc chloride/ethanol solution catalytic system. The pyrolysis process was conducted in a thermalgravimetric analyser (TGA). The effect of such pre-treatment on the prepreg surface morphology and elemental composition were investigated by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (SEM/EDS). A non-treated prepreg was also investigated for benchmarking. After the thermal pyrolysis process, the fibre tensile properties were measured using a single fibre tester, and the surface morphology of recycled carbon fibres was investigated by SEM. Virgin carbon fibres were also included in the study for benchmarking. After pre-treatment, some tiny cracks appeared on the surface of carbon fibre prepreg. During the pyrolysis process, the devolatilisation temperature of the pre-treated prepreg reduced by around 20-30°C and the peak temperature was 40-50°C lower compared to that of the non-treated prepreg. After pyrolysis in nitrogen with a small amount of air, loose carbon fibres were recovered, and their surface was clean. The chemical per-treatment process reduces the pyrolysis temperature and oxidation time effectively compared to the conventional pyrolysis process.

Original languageEnglish
Publication statusPublished - 2019
Event22nd International Conference on Composite Materials, ICCM 2019 - Melbourne, Australia
Duration: 11 Aug 201916 Aug 2019

Conference

Conference22nd International Conference on Composite Materials, ICCM 2019
Country/TerritoryAustralia
CityMelbourne
Period11/08/1916/08/19

Keywords

  • Carbon fibre
  • Chemical treatment
  • Recycling
  • Thermal pyrolysis

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Engineering
  • Ceramics and Composites

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