SBIR Phase I: Long Fiber Thermoplastic Composites from Recycled Carbon Fiber

该小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目旨在开发基于回收碳纤维的长纤维热塑性塑料（LFT）。 该方法是使用具有两种不同聚合物基质的回收的短切碳纤维来生产LFT。 一种是尼龙，用于具有成本效益的汽车工业。 另一种是用于高性能航空航天应用的聚苯硫醚。 该项目更广泛的/商业影响将是有可能大幅减少送往垃圾填埋场的废纤维。 保守估计，生产的碳纤维中约有20%将在复合材料制造过程中成为废物并成为垃圾填埋场，这是一个严重的环境问题。 虽然回收废碳纤维是非常可取的，但很少有复合材料制造工艺被设计用于短切纤维，这是回收碳纤维的主要形式。 该技术将提供一种使用短切碳纤维生产LFT复合材料的制造工艺。 预期其实现与由原生纤维制成的商业产品相当的LFT性质。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project aims to develop long fiber thermoplastic (LFT) based on recycled carbon fiber. The approach is to produce LFTs using recycled chopped carbon fibers with two different polymer matrixes. One is with nylon for the cost-effective automotive industry. The other is with polyphenylene sulfide for high-performance aerospace applications. The broader/commercial impact of this project will be the potential to achieve considerable reductions of waste fiber that is sent to landfill. Conservatively, about 20% of carbon fiber produced will end up as waste during composite manufacturing and become landfill, which is a serious environmental concern. While recycling waste carbon fiber is highly desirable, few composite manufacturing processes are designed to work with chopped fibers, which is the primary form of the recycled carbon fibers. This technology will provide a manufacturing process to produce LFT composites using chopped carbon fibers. It is anticipated to achieve LFT properties comparable with commercial products made by virgin fibers.