[China Daily]Researchers discover new way to recycle carbon fiber waste
AteamofresearchersfromShanghaiJiaoTongUniversityhasdevelopedanewtechnologyandequipmentforrecyclingcarbonfibercompositewastematerial.
Carbonfiberisoftendescribedas"thekingofnewmaterials"andismostlyusedinthemanufactureofspacecraft,aircraft,communicationsatellitesandothercutting-edgetechnologies.Itisalsowidelyusedincars,bicycles,tennisracketsandfishingrods.
Thereareabout60to70kilogramsofcarbonfiberinevery100kgofaviationcarbonfibercompositewastematerial.Thetotalamountofcarbonfibercompositewastematerialintheworldisexpectedtoreach50,000metrictonsby2020.Ofthattotal,theamountofcarbonfiberwillexceedmorethan25,000tonsandwillbeworthmorethan5billionyuan($760million),accordingtoexperts.
"Thecarbonfiberinthecompositewastematerialstillhasahighrecyclingvalue,butinactualoperationsitisverydifficulttoregeneratethecarbonfiber.Thisisabottleneckinthefurtherdevelopmentofcompositematerials,"saidYangBin,anassociateprofessorattheSchoolofChemistryandChemicalEngineeringatShanghaiJiaoTongUniversity.Thecommonlyusedcarbonfibercompositematerialismainlycomposedofcarbonfiberandthermosettingresins,whichisinsolubleandnonfusible.Inthepast,thecarbonfibercompositewastematerialwereprocessedbyburyingorburningit,butwhichledtoenvironmentalpollution.DumpingorburningitiscurrentlybannedbytheChinesegovernment.
Thetaskofregeneratingcarbonfiberfromthematerialwasteandrecyclingthethermosettingresinsintheformofenergyorusefulmaterialisthechallengeahead,Yangsaid.
Andafterfiveyears,theteamhasdiscoveredamethodtoaccomplishexactlythat.Theteamdevelopedatechnologythatallowsthematerialwastetobeprocessedinlargechunks,withouttheneedtocutorgrindthemintosmallpieces.Theresultisaregeneratedcarbonfiberthatislonger.
Thetechnologycanbeundertakenonalarge-scaleoperation,withannualprocessingcapacityexceedingmorethan200tons.Earlier,onlythreecompaniesinGermany,JapanandtheUnitedStateshadanindustrializedtechnologyforrecyclingcarbonfibercompositewastematerial.
Thusfar,thetechnologyfromShanghaiJiaoTongUniversity'sresearchershasbeenlistedinthe2015automotiveindustrystandardstoguidetherecyclingandreuseofautomotivematerialsbytheChinaAutomotiveTechnologyandResearchCenter.
"Thecountryhasbeenactivelypromotingtheapplicationofcarbonfibercompositematerials.Thenewtechnologyhastakenintoaccounttheneedtoreuseresourcesandprotecttheenvironment,whichwillplayapositiverolefortheeconomy'ssustainabledevelopment,"saidYiXiaosu,directoroftheStatekeylaboratoryofadvancedcompositematerialatBeijingInstituteofAeronauticalMaterials.
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AmanufacturingplantthatproducescarbonfiberinLianyungang,Jiangsuprovince.AChineseresearchteamrecentlydevelopedatechnologytorecyclecarbonfiber. |
来源：ChinaDaily 2016.01.27 page17
原文： Researchers discover new way to recycle carbon fiber waste