Co-authors​ :

 Konstantinos TSERPES (GREECE), Christina VOGIANTZI (GREECE) 

The increasing use of carbon fiber-reinforced plastics (CFRPs) in structural applications from various industrial sectors highlights the importance of developing efficient recycling methodologies [1]. Current developments are focusing on chemical recycling (solvolysis) as it offers full product recyclability, lower carbon footprint and high-quality recovered carbon fibers compared to mechanical and thermal recycling methods. In the present work, an innovative solvolysis approach utilizing as solvents water and water/ethanol mixtures in four different ratios under subcritical and supercritical conditions is presented. The morphology and surface of the recycled carbon fibers (rCFs) are characterized by SEM and their mechanical performance by single-fiber tension and single-fiber pull-out tests. The effect of solvent type, and reaction time on the thermosetting resin removal efficiency is also studied. The mass-based measurements of the epoxy resin's decomposition efficiency in the CFRPs typically ranged between 90 and 100%. The findings from SEM and mechanical tests show that the rCFs are suitable for application in second-generation CFRPs, thus concluding that both water and water/ethanol mixtures are efficient solvents in the solvolysis of CFRPs.