Catalyst-free malleable, degradable, bio-based epoxy thermosets and its application in recyclable carbon fiber composites

Yanlin Liu, Binbo Wang, Songqi Ma*, Tao Yu, Xiwei Xu, Qiong Li, Sheng Wang, Yingying Han, Zhen Yu, Jin Zhu 

Carbon fiber reinforced composites (CFRCs) are a kind of most potential materials due to high strength-to-weight ratio, excellent fatigue and corrosion resistance. However, the vast majority of CFRCs prepared from carbon fiber and thermosetting matrices are difficult to be recycled and depend on limited fossil resources. Here, for the first time, we reported fully bio-based catalyst-free epoxy vitrimers for CFRCs. The epoxy vitrimers exhibited excellent malleability and could be reprocessed by compression molding. Outstanding degradability was also achieved, which enabled multiple recovery of CF without damage from their CFRCs. In addition, CFRCs regenerated from multiple recovered CFs exhibited insignificant differences from the original CFRCs. This work will provide an effective method for the sound development of CFRCs from both economic and environmental aspects.

论文链接：https://authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S1359-8368(21)00048-2