Sustainable polymer-tribology : Developing novel multiscale thermoplastic composites using recycled high-performance fibers

Sammanfattning: The transition to a Circular Economy scheme that enables a more efficient usage of the resources is one of the most pressing needs in our society. From the industrial perspective this has been translated into new design philosophies and the search for more efficient systems. Polymeric composites have played a key role in the development of lighter components with good mechanical and tribological properties. Specifically, the demand of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymers (CFRP) has had an increasing trend since 1970s-1980s, becoming one of the kind of composites with the highest demand in the market to supply industries such as aerospace, automotive, construction, renewable energies, among others. With the increasing demand of CFRP materials some of the main challenges that arise are their disposal, environmental impact and cost of production to maintain the required supply. The use of Carbon Fibers as a reinforcement for polymeric matrices has been widely documented over the last decades, however the characterization of recycled Carbon Fibers for tribological applications is still scarce. Therefore, this investigation is focused on the mechanical and tribological characterization under water lubricated conditions of Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMWPE) composites reinforced with virgin and recycled Carbon Fibers and Graphene Oxide. The findings of this work provide an important panorama regarding the performance of recycled Carbon Fibers, showing that they can have a comparable performance in mechanical properties and tribological behavior. This enables the use of recycled Carbon Fibers without compromising performance while reducing the environmental impact and cost.