A facile and efficient solvothermal degradation route for carbon fiber reinforced epoxy resin composite waste

Carbon fiber reinforced epoxy resin composite (CF/EP) is widely used in aerospace applications, automotive industry, construction engineering and many other important sectors, for it has excellent mechanical properties and corrosion resistance. However, the three-dimensional cross-linked structure of the cured epoxy resin determines its insolubility and non-melting characteristics, which makes it challenging to efficiently degrade CF/EP waste and recycle the high-value carbon fibers. In this study we propose a strategy that degrades the CF/EP waste via a facile and efficient solvothermal degradation route. The results showed that the degradation ratio of the resin increased significantly with the rise in reaction temperature. When the reaction temperature reached 180 °C there were no obvious resin residues on the surface of the recycled carbon fibers. It was found that the recycled carbon fibers were not obviously damaged during the solvothermal degradation process, as shown by the scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman analyses.