Measuring Thermal Properties of Recycled Carbon Composites

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This Research Tool Instrument will enable us to explore new methods for examining carbon containing polymer composites for their heat-transfer and anti-flammability measurements. A global effort is underway on how to recycle polymer materials while also using carbon in polymer composites to make lighter weight and better performing materials. Only around 9% of plastics are recycled in North America, with a diversity of approaches being investigated. A variety of these recycling approaches such as pyrolysis will create carbon of unknown quality. Recycling has become a tremendous research challenge for North American companies as previously used plastics were sent to China for disposal.  China in 2018 changed their policy which has resulted in a need to address this challenge ourselves. Similarly, a variety of approaches are used for integrating carbonaceous materials into polymeric systems.  Carbon has a variety of allotropes  such as single and multi-wall carbon nanotubes, graphene, carbon quantum-dots, graphite, diamonds and amorphous carbon.  Due to the abundance of carbon, and its ability to provide low weight materials, its applications have been integrated into all forms of modern areas, particularly automobiles, trains, airplanes, structures such as bridges and integration into concrete. Towards these advantages of using low cost and renewable carbon into both virgin and recycled materials, the underlying understanding of how the carbon type/quality can control heat transfer and whether it provides insulating or conductive materials is largely unexplored. Our research program examines how green solvents can be used to integrate carbon into recycled materials or polymer composites and the quality of carbon required. For example green biobased solvents such as supercritical fluids or ionic liquids can be used in both the recycling process and  enhancing carbon integration. For example, foams are being produced using supercritical carbon dioxide, where the type quality of carbon (biomass derived, graphene or graphite) is examined on exfoliation and percolation threshold. Depending on the 2D or 3D structure of the carbon containing composite, either insulating or conductive materials can be formed. Industry has been held back by wider adoption of these carbon materials due to a lack of understanding of heat transfer or flammability. Understanding the flammability and heat transfer requirements is critical for the end-use application. Several graduate students are working on industrial themed projects in our lab for both generating carbon and integrating into composites, exploring the type of carbon and underlying chemistry and physics. Both of these research tools with be used in our Advanced Material Centre for wide adoption throughout our University and area by both academic and industrial colleagues.