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Fiber and Monomer Recovery from an Amine-Cured Epoxy Composite Using Molten NaOH-KOH
Y Justin Lim1, Zehan Yu2, Valeriy Cherepakhin1
1Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute, Wrigley Institute of Environmental Studies, and Department of Chemistry, University of Southern California, 837 Bloom Walk, Los Angeles, California, 90089, USA.
None:
We report a rapid route to reclaim carbon fiber (CF) fabric and monomeric chemicals from amine-epoxy CF-reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites. We use a reaction that occurs in molten NaOH-KOH eutectic to selectively cleave aryl ether and amine linkages, which involves two temperature-dependant mechanisms. Bisphenol-A is isolated in up to quantitative yields, and recovered CF fabric is remanufactured into 2nd-generation CFRPs.
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