Recycling and Reusing of Waste Aircraft Composites in Thermoplastic and Thermoset Matrices.

ABSTRACT: Unlike typical fiber-reinforced polymers, aerospace composites consist of 90% carbon and 10% glass fabrics impregnated with thermosetting resin. Due to the strong bonding between fibers and the thermoset nature of the matrix, recycling these materials is particularly challenging. This study evaluates mechanical recycling of aircraft composite waste via industrial grinding and chemical recycling through a solvolysis process. Recovered fibrous fractions were integrated into an epoxy matrix at 50 wt% loading using hot-pressing and into polyamide 12 at 15 wt% via a twin-screw extrusion process. The mechanical results showed that chemically recycled fibers in epoxy reached a flexural modulus of 9.9 GPa and strength of 112 MPa, significantly outperforming mechanically recycled fillers (6.1 GPa a

SUBMITTER: Latko-Duralek P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12898532 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature