Carbon Fiber Reinforced Thermoset Composite with Near 100% Recyclability

Both environmental and economic factors have driven the development of recycling routes for the increasing amount of composite waste generated. This paper presents a new paradigm to fully recycle epoxy‐based carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites. After immersing the composite in ethylene glycol (EG) and increasing the temperature, the epoxy matrix can be dissolved as the EG molecules participate in bond exchange reactions (BERs) within the covalent adaptable network (CAN), effectively breaking the long polymer chains into small segments. The clean carbon fibers can be then reclaimed with the same dimensions and mechanical properties as those of fresh ones. Both the dissolution rate and the minimum amount of EG required to fully dissolve the CAN are experimentally determined. Further heating the dissolved solution leads to repolymerization of the epoxy matrix, so a new generation of composite can be fabricated by using the recycled fiber and epoxy; in this way a closed‐loop near 100% recycling paradigm is realized. In addition, epoxy composites with surface damage are shown to be fully repaired. Both the recycled and the repaired composites exhibit the same level of mechanical properties as fresh materials. A new method to fully recycle the carbon fiber reinforced thermoset composites is developed. After immersing the composite in solvent, the polymer matrix can be dissolved and clean carbon fibers are reclaimed; both, matrix material and carbon fibres, can be recycled and reused for the same purpose. The developed method can also be used to repair composite with surface damage.