Study of Manufacturing Process and Properties of C/C Composites with Recycled Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastics

This study has a different direction from the existing technology of applying recycled carbon fiber obtained by recycling waste CFRP to CFRP again. A study was conducted to utilize recycled carbon fiber as a raw material for manufacturing a carbon/carbon (C/C) composite material comprising carbon as a matrix. First, it was attempted to recycle a commonly used epoxy resin composite material through a thermal decomposition process. By applying the newly proposed oxidation-inert atmosphere conversion technology to the pyrolysis process, the residual carbon rate of 1 similar to 2% was improved to 19%. Through this, the possibility of manufacturing C/C composite materials utilizing epoxy resin was confirmed. However, in the case of carbon obtained by the oxidation-inert atmosphere controlled pyrolysis process, the degree of oxygen bonding is high, so further improvement studies are needed. In addition, short-fiber C/C composite material specimens were prepared through the crushing and disintegrating processes after thermal decomposition of waste CFRP, and the optimum process conditions were derived through the evaluation of mechanical properties.