Abstract
Sustainability of fibre reinforced polymer composites has become vital for reaching the global sustainable development goals. Natural fibres, particularly flax, and bioderived matrices are possible sustainable solutions for the composites industry, due to the constituents’ embedded environmental impact reduction. According to the circular economy paradigm, sustainability can also be achieved by delaying the disposal of materials. This work reports the interfacial properties of flax fibres with three potentially sustainable advanced matrices, i.e., a vitrimer that combines the beneficial properties of both thermosets and thermoplastics, an entirely bio-based thermoset, and an advanced thermoplastic resin. Each of the selected matrices offers the potential for either recyclability, repairability, reusability, or the use of renewable sources and a reduction in the emissions of volatile organic compounds. Microbond tests were used to evaluate the interfacial shear strength and critical fibre length. It was found that the vitrimer and the bio-based thermoset matrices had a higher level of adhesion with flax fibres (20 and 24 MPa, respectively) compared to a traditional epoxy matrix (12 MPa); the advanced thermoplastic resin (6 MPa) shows the poorest adhesion. The vitrimer matrix was selected as a candidate for a sustainable and repairable discontinuous flax fibre reinforced composite. Mechanical and low-temperature rapid repair performance of an aligned discontinuous flax fibre composite, produced using the HiPerDiF method, were investigated. End-to-end and single patch repair methods were performed: vitrimer matrix composites show the potential for a mechanical strength recovery (%50-70) that would allow them to be reused over several life cycles, enabling a circular economy.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 110139 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Composites Part B: Engineering |
| Volume | 243 |
| Early online date | 28 Jul 2022 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 15 Aug 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The authors thank Ecotechnilin, Fabrizio Scarpa, and Charles de Kergariou for supplying flax fibres. The authors also thank Mallinda Inc. (especially Heather Rubin) and Bitrez Ltd. (especially Dominic Hopwood) for providing polymer matrix materials. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results. This work was funded under the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Project [grant EP/P027393/1] “High Performance Discontinuous Fibre Composites—a sustainable route to the next generation of composites” and the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training at the Advance Composites Centre for Innovation and Science (ACCIS, Grant number EP/L016028/1). A.K. acknowledges support from Turkish Ministry of National Education YLSY grant.
Funding Information:
This work was funded under the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Project [grant EP/P027393/1 ] “High Performance Discontinuous Fibre Composites—a sustainable route to the next generation of composites” and the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training at the Advance Composites Centre for Innovation and Science (ACCIS, Grant number EP/L016028/1 ). A.K. acknowledges support from Turkish Ministry of National Education YLSY grant.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Author(s)
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Characterisation and Selection of Sustainable Discontinuous Natural Fibre Reinforced Polymer Constituents and Their Composites
Kandemir, A. (Author), Eichhorn, S. (Supervisor), Hamerton, I. (Supervisor) & Longana, M. L. (Supervisor), 5 Dec 2023Student thesis: Doctoral Thesis › Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
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