Qin Bo, Liu Siyuan, Xu Jiang-Fei
Key Lab of Organic Optoelectronics & Molecular Engineering, Department of Chemistry, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China.
Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2023 Oct 23;62(43):e202311856. doi: 10.1002/anie.202311856. Epub 2023 Sep 18.
Highly efficient recycling of carbon fiber reinforced polymer composites into monomers and fibers is a formidable challenge. Herein, we present a closed-loop recycling approach for carbon fiber reinforced polymer composites using reversible amidation chemistry, which enables the complete recovery of intact carbon fibers and pure monomers. The polymer network, synthesized by amidation between a macromonomer linear polyethyleneimine and a bifunctional maleic anhydride cross-linker, serves as a matrix for the construction of composites with exceptional mechanical properties, thermal stability and solvent resistance. The matrices can be fully depolymerized under the acidic condition at ambient temperature, allowing the effective separation and recovery of both carbon fibers and the two monomers. The reclaimed carbon fibers retain nearly identical mechanical properties to pristine ones, while pure monomers are recycled with high separation yields (>93 %). They can be reused in for multiple cycles for the manufacture of new composites, whose mechanical properties recover over 95 % of their original properties. This line of research presents a promising approach for the design of high-performance and sustainable thermoset composites, offering significant environmental and economic benefits.
将碳纤维增强聚合物复合材料高效回收为单体和纤维是一项艰巨的挑战。在此，我们提出了一种使用可逆酰胺化化学方法对碳纤维增强聚合物复合材料进行闭环回收的方法，该方法能够完全回收完整的碳纤维和纯单体。由大分子单体线性聚乙烯亚胺和双功能马来酸酐交联剂之间的酰胺化反应合成的聚合物网络，用作构建具有优异机械性能、热稳定性和耐溶剂性的复合材料的基质。这些基质在酸性条件下于室温下可完全解聚，从而实现碳纤维和两种单体的有效分离与回收。回收的碳纤维保留了与原始碳纤维几乎相同的机械性能，而纯单体的回收分离产率很高（>93%）。它们可以多次循环用于制造新的复合材料，其机械性能可恢复到原始性能的95%以上。这一系列研究为高性能和可持续热固性复合材料的设计提供了一种有前景的方法，具有显著的环境和经济效益。
