Stimulated by the growing demand for more sustainable polymer systems, experiments were performed to develop completely recyclable epoxy-based thermoset composite materials involving the separation, recovery, and complete reuse of both components of the composite, the resin and the fibers. In this study, a possibility to design such composites by incorporation of reversible chemistry for dedicated repair and recycling is demonstrated. Relying on Diels-Alder (DA) adducts located on the cross-links between the polymeric chains, uncross-linking the thermoset via the reverse DA reactions becomes possible. The network breaks up at elevated temperatures in shorter segments, which can be solubilized in solvents like acetic acid, butan-1-ol, or toluene. Specific processes for each of these solvents were developed to recover the resin and fibers with virtually unchanged properties. Both components were used in a second manufacturing step to produce recycled composites which display properties comparable with the original composites.
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