NeuRecA

Fiber-reinforced plastics based on carbon fibers (CFRPC) play a key role in many industries with lightweight construction requirements. This applies primarily to aerospace and automotive engineering, but increasingly also to the leisure and sports sectors. In addition to pure lightweight construction and the associated economic challenges, the focus in recent years has increasingly shifted to ecological lightweight construction with demands for sustainable solutions and recyclable materials.

This objective can only be achieved for fiber-reinforced plastic composites (FRP) in general, and for carbon fiber-reinforced plastics (CFRP) in particular, by consistently striving towards a acircular economy.

As part of the NeuRecA joint project, targeted material development was undertaken for both carbon fiber production waste (such as offcuts from carbon fiber textiles and spool remnants) and recycled carbon fibers obtained through pyrolysis of end-of-life (EoL) components, with the aim of enabling their reuse in new CFRP applications.This can significantly reduce the ecological footprint of carbon fiber-reinforced components and further increase the attractiveness of the material. By combining a newly developed resin paste formulation (based on a high-Tg epoxy resin) and staple fiber yarns based on recycled carbon fibers, Sheet Molding Compound  products (SMC) have been developed that can be used in structural areas, which are subject to high thermal loads. The SMC plant at IVW was employed to produce the semi-finished products, offering both a high level of design flexibility and cost-effective, efficient manufacturing.

In the "NeuRecA" joint project, new and innovative SMC formulations based on recycled carbon fibers and epoxy resins were developed for use in structural areas for high-temperature applications. This represents a first important milestone towards sustainable CFRP composites.