New method of recycling carbon fiber developed for automotive

Researchers from UNSW Canberra developed a new method to recycle carbon fiber for automotive with less material waste and energy use, and limit the degradation of the recycled material.

UNSW Canberra researcher Di He with a sample of carbon fiber recycled using a method he developed.

Challenges on recycling carbon fiber

Carbon fiber are thin strands of carbon that are exceptionally strong and lightweight. Combined with plastic to create a composite, the material can be used to construct a variety of products, including aircraft, wind turbines, Formula 1 race car, high-end bicycles and other sporting equipment.

It is expensive to make and therefore, recycled carbon fiber is more appeal, in addition to its environmental benefits. Recycling carbon fiber requires one-tenth of the energy needed to produce it from scratch.

Carbon fiber is considered one of the most difficult materials to be recycled due to its heavy degradation after recycling process including shredding and heating.

Mechanical performance of objects made from the existing recycled fiber is degraded by 80-90%, compared to using new fiber. Typically, it is only reused to make low-value products that do not experience heavy forces or loads, such as tables and chairs.

Innovative recycling method to limit degradation

The new method, developed by researchers from UNSW Canberra, does not require shredding the carbon fiber but to optimize the heating process.

“This leaves the fibers intact, and therefore the new product made from the recycled carbon fiber is much stronger,” explained Di He, UNSW Canberra researcher.

This method degrades the carbon fiber by less than 30%, which is 50% improvement on existing methods.

Carbon fiber recycled using the old method (left) compared with Dr He's new method. The recycled carbon fiber using the new method is stronger and has the potential to be turned into more advanced products.

Although the new method is not yet suitable for constructing a car, the new and improved recycled carbon fiber has potential to construct individual parts of car, such as roof.

Car manufacturers are interested in carbon fiber vehicles as the lower weight can improve energy efficient, helping them meet new fuel efficiency standard announced by the Australian government in earlier 2023. In the transition of electric vehicles (EVs), this could also help reduce vehicle electricity consumption and thus, increasing vehicle range.