Reprocessable, repairable and reciclable thermoset composites

Abstract

Composites based on epoxy resin are a class of high performance structural materials with great potential in a wide variety of industrial sectors. However, being thermoset resins, despite their great benefits in lightness and mechanical performance, they present the great disadvantage that once cured they can not be reprocessed, repaired or recycled. This is hindering the rapid growth of composite materials in applications such as automotive. In order to overcome the disadvantages of thermosetting resins, this paper presents the development of a new generation of dynamic thermoset epoxy resins able to be reprocessed,  repaired and recycled thanks to the incorporation of reversible bonds within its reticulated structure. As resins containing dynamic bonds, the cured material presents new properties previously unthinkable for thermosetting materials. These new resins have been developed for the manufacture of composite materials reinforced with both glass fiber and carbon fiber. It has been shown that these new composites have mechanical properties equivalent to those of conventional thermosetting composites, but unlike the latter, they are recyclable, repairable and reprocessable, which is a step forward and the creation of new opportunities for sectors such as automotive .

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