Kinetics of Recycling CF/EP Composites by Thermal Excitation of Cr2O3

Recycling high performance carbon fibers (CFs) by thermal excitation of Cr2O3 semiconductor was proposed. The kinetic model of decomposition of epoxy resin was established and the method for solving kinetic parameters was proposed. The influences of temperature and treatment time on the decomposition rate of epoxy resin were investigated. The kinetic equation was established and the accuracy was verified experimentally. The morphology of the recycled CF was observed and monofilament tensile strength was determined. Results indicated that temperature and treatment time had positive correlation with decomposition rate of the epoxy resin. The reaction order n was 1.5, with excitation energy E of 85.03 kJ·mol−1 and pre-exponential factor k0 of 1.26 × 106 min−1. The established kinetic equation could be used to estimate the temperature and treatment time. Prolongation of treatment time could improve the monofilament tensile strength. The monofilament tensile strength of the recycled CF at 480 °C for 30 min was 102.72% of that of the original CF, indicating that surface heat treatment was performed on CF during the recycling process.