STTR Phase I: Innovative dispersion technology for the sustainable repurposing of off-spec and recycled carbon fiber into low-cost, defect-free, nonwoven fabrics

这个小型企业技术转移(STTR)第一阶段项目的更广泛影响是拦截垃圾填埋场-目的地为碳纤维-指定为不符合规格的纤维-并将其重新用于可持续的非织造布。不合格的碳纤维占碳纤维产量的30%。这些可持续的面料将根据其性能特征被分类为多个层次，适合不同规模的应用。此外，该项目将探索天然纤维和非规格碳纤维的杂交，以提高可持续性。该项目的结果可以作为行业将这些织物应用到其复合材料中以制造更轻、更低排放的汽车的基准。由所得纤维制成的先进复合材料可能会引入新的高性能材料，可用于医疗设备、轻型无人机和电子外壳的开发，在汽车、航空航天、体育和海洋工业等领域都有应用。用不合格的碳纤维生产非织造布的创新是基于对其物理化学性质及其对水溶液中机械搅拌和悬浮的响应的基础研究。这项工作的重点是湿法铺设工艺的分散机理。这项技术可能会产生一种数学模型，该模型可以接收关于纤维特性的输入，并预测将为最佳非织造布提供分散条件的混合制度。这样的模型可以得到彻底、标准化的质量控制和机械测试的支持。该项目的目标是建立使用非规格材料(包括饰边和回收纤维)制造垫子的工艺，并优化由混合碳纤维层的不同组合制成的垫子的操作。将使用不同比例和不同类型的符合和不符合规格的碳纤维的混合物，模型将进行调整，以反映最佳操作设置。最后，该团队将比较定制混合材料碳纤维垫和仅使用碳纤维生产的产品的性能，以扩大产品应用。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The Broader impact of this Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project is to intercepting landfill-destined carbon fiber – designated as off-spec fibers - and repurpose it into sustainable nonwoven fabrics. Off-spec carbon fiber constitutes 30% of carbon fiber production. These sustainable fabrics will be categorized based on their performance characteristics into multiple tiers that are suitable for different scales of applications. In addition, this project will explore the hybridization of natural fiber and off-spec carbon fiber for increased sustainability. The results of this project may serve as a baseline for industry to adopt these fabrics into their composites to create lighter automotive vehicles with lower emissions. The advanced composites made from the resulting fabrics may introduce new, high-performance materials that can be used for the development of medical devices, lightweight unmanned aircrafts, and electronic enclosures with applications in the automotive, aerospace, sporting, and marine industries, and beyond.The proposed innovation to produce nonwoven fabrics from off-spec carbon fiber is based on the fundamental studies of their physical and chemical properties and their responses to mechanical agitation and suspension in an aqueous solutions. This effort focuses on dispersing mechanisms for the wet laid process. This technology may lead to a mathematical model that can receive inputs about fibers properties and predict a mixing regime that will provide dispersion conditions for an optimal nonwoven fabric. Such models can be supported with thorough, standardized, quality control and mechanical testing. This project objectives are to establish process to fabricate mats using off-spec materials, including trims, and recycled fibers and to optimize operations for mats made from different combinations of blended carbon fiber tiers. Mixtures of different fractional percentages and types of on- and off-spec carbon fibers will be used, and models will be adjusted to reflect optimal operational settings. Finally, the team will compare the performance of tailored mixed-material carbon fiber mats against those produced using only carbon fibers to expand products applications.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.