Recycling of waste wind turbine blades for high-performance polypropylene composites

Glass fiber-reinforced epoxy resin composite materials are widely used in various fields because of their excellent properties, especially in the stringent performance requirements of wind turbine blades manufacture for wind power generation. However, the irreversible cross-linking network of the epoxy resin makes it difficult to recycle. In recent years, the management of large amounts of decommissioned wind turbine blade waste has become spotlight. This study used self-developed solid-state shear milling technology to effectively remove the epoxy resin from the glass fiber surface while preserving its high aspect ratio, ensuring its mechanical reinforcement potential. Furthermore, this process also significantly reduced epoxy resin particle size. Subsequently, composites with filler contents up to 50 wt.% were formulated with polypropylene. In the optimized composition, the material exhibited a remarkable 37.1% increase in tensile strength, 147.3% increase in modulus, and 63.8% increase in flexural strength, 165.5% in modulus, respectively. In this research, we conducted a comprehensive exploration into the effects of modifier structure and powder content on different properties of composites, contributing to a deeper understanding of these key factors. Resource utilization of wind turbine blades. image