Reclamation of Carbon Fiber Through Plasma Pyrolysis

Carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) is an advanced composite material. It has been used in many applications, especially in area which high strength to weigh ratio is the primary preference. Examples of CFRP application are in aircraft body, wind turbine, and sports equipment. The composite material is a thermoset polymer with epoxy as the matrix. The material, however, is expensive due to high energy processing for producing carbon fiber. In this study, CFRP is reclaimed through plasma pyrolysis. The properties of the reclaimed carbon fiber (rCF) such as tensile strength and pull-out test together with micrograph observation are reported in this paper. As a comparison to the established oxidation pyrolysis that utilizes oxygen and nitrogen, rCF reclaimed by plasma pyrolysis showed comparable properties. (author)