Closed Loop Recycling of CFRP Into Highly Aligned High Performance Short Fiber Composites Using the TUFF Process

Current Carbon (CF) Fiber Reinforced Polymers (CFRP) recycling strategies reclaim continuous CF in powder or short fiber form. The material is added to molding compounds as a filler or short fiber reinforcement having random or semi-aligned orientation to produce composites with low fiber volume fraction and reduced mechanical properties (down cycling). Down cycling reduces the value chain limiting the recycling opportunities of CFRPs. This paper combines a short fiber alignment process (TuFF) with 1) the use of low-cost, short CFs obtained from recycled and waste stream, and 2) recycling of TuFF material using thermolysis to produce highly aligned short fiber composites with mechanical properties approaching continuous fiber levels. The closed-loop process recycles the CFRP, reclaims the fiber content, aligns the fibers using the TuFF process and produces new CFRP components with high property retention. The method reduces material and part cost and allows true recycling and reuse of CF components into high-performance parts.