A research team at Washington State University (WSU) reports that it has developed and intends to patent a new method for successfully recycling thermoset carbon composites and recovering both the fibre and resin in reusable forms.

Because thermosets are cured they can’t easily be returned to their original raw material components and researchers have mostly tried grinding them down mechanically or breaking them down with very high temperatures or harsh chemicals to recover the expensive carbon fibre. Often, however, the carbon fibre is damaged in the process and the caustic chemicals used are hazardous and difficult to dispose of. They also destroy the matrix resin materials, creating a messy mixture of chemicals and an additional waste problem.

Read the full article on our Inside Composites website