ENHANCING THE SUSTAINABILITY OF HIGH PERFORMANCE FIBER COMPOSITES

摘要

Continuous fiber reinforced composites find widespread and increasing use in all manner of structural applications, from sporting goods to aircraft to wind turbine blades. They promise an attractive mix of high stiffness and strength and excellent corrosion resistance coupled with low weight that is difficult to match with more traditional materials. However, the bulk of these materials are based on petroleum-based thermosetting resins that cannot be recycled, calling into question their sustainability. This is of particular note given the rise of wind energy as a critically important form of sustainable power generation and the heavy reliance of this industry on composites in general and continuous fiber reinforced epoxy resins in particular.