Green Recycling And re-manufacturing of Carbon fibre composites for a circular Economy (GRACE)

碳纤维增强聚合物（CFRP）凭借其优异的刚度、强度、热稳定性、重量轻和耐腐蚀性的上级组合，在从航空航天到地面交通、建筑行业到体育用品的各种应用中一直是领先的竞争者。到2050年，由于轻量化设计，全球采用复合材料结构的飞机预计将贡献15%-20%的工业二氧化碳减排目标。使用CFRP加固结构构件是建筑行业中最常用的方法之一，以延长现有结构的寿命。随着大量CFRP复合材料从20世纪70年代开始使用到50年的使用寿命，产生了越来越多的CFRP复合材料废物。由于这些材料是热固性的，它们的分解和回收是一个紧迫的全球性挑战。现有的回收技术通常需要复杂的工艺、昂贵的设施或有毒化学品。由于现有的回收方法在回收之前需要将CFRP复合材料切碎或研磨，因此回收的碳纤维具有低的商业价值。此外，现有的回收方法集中在回收纤维和树脂仍然是废物。该项目将开发国际领先的从使用寿命结束（EOSL）的碳纤维增强聚合物（CFRP）复合材料中回收碳纤维的技术。回收过程将在环境温度和压力下操作。这将是零浪费，回收的纤维将保持原来的尺寸和强度。该项目的变革性回收方法将基于获奖技术，即申请人获得专利的电驱动异相催化分解（EHD）方法。回收的纤维将被制成连续的纤维纱线。除了使用回收纤维外，该项目还将在碳纤维复合材料中加入低环境影响的生物树脂，并通过全面的测试和建模来展示其在航空和建筑行业的应用。将进行从摇篮到坟墓的生命周期评估（LCA），为优化资源和尽量减少环境影响提供数据。该合作项目将利用来自英国和中国合作伙伴的补充性国际领先专业知识，提供变革性技术，以充分利用使用寿命结束的CFRP复合材料的全部价值，实现循环经济。项目团队将利用其广泛的联系网络，积极与英国和中国复合材料行业整个供应链中的关键利益相关者进行接触，以确保项目成果得到最广泛的关注和接受。

Carbon fibre reinforced polymers (CFRP), with their superior combination of stiffness, strength, thermal stability, light weight and corrosion resistance have been leading contenders in various applications, ranging from aerospace to ground transportation, construction industries to sporting goods. The global transition of aircraft with composite architecture is estimated to contribute 15%-20% of industry CO2 reduction targets by 2050, due to the lightweight design. Strengthening of structural members using CFRP is one of the most commonly used methods in the construction industry to prolong the life of existing structures. An increasingly significant amount of CFRP composite waste is being generated as large quantities of such materials starting life in the 1970's applications reach their 50-year service life. As these materials are thermoset, their decomposition and recycling are an urgent worldwide challenge. The existing recycling techniques generally require complicated processes, expensive facilities or toxic chemicals. Because the existing recycling methods need shredding or milling of the CFRP composite before recycling, the recycled carbon fibres have low commercial values. Moreover, the existing recycling methods focus on recovering fibres and the resin remains waste. This project will develop international leading technologies of recovering carbon fibres from end-of-service-life (EOSL) carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites. The recovering process will be operated under ambient temperature and pressure. It will be zero waste and the recovered fibres will maintain the original dimensions and strengths. The transformative recycling methodology of this project will be based on the award-winning technology, the Electrically driven Hetero-catalytic Decomposition (EHD) method, patented by the applicants. The reclaimed fibres will be fabricated into continuous fibre yarns. Potential cost savings of more than 20%-83% and energy savings of 82%-98% have been predicted for using recycling technologies.In addition to using recycled fibres, this project will incorporate low environmental impact bio-resins in CFRP composites and demonstrate their applications in aviation and construction industries through thorough testing and modelling. A cradle to grave Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) will be carried out to provide data for optimisation of resources and minimisation of environmental impacts. This collaborative project will take advantage of supplementary international leading expertise from the UK and Chinese partners to deliver transformative technologies to harness the full value of end of service life CFRP composites for a circular economy. The project team will use their wide networks of contacts to actively engage with key stakeholders in the entire supply chain of the composite industry in both the UK and China to ensure the widest interest in and take up of the outcome of the project.