Technology of single polymer polyester composites and proposals for their recycling

Abstract

A single polymer composite comprises a composite built out of fibres and a matrix, both made of the same or a very similar polymer material, where the components may differ with: molecular mass, density or branching degree. Such thermoplastic composites provide the beneficial mechanical characteristics required for reinforced materials, and their great advantage is the ease of full material recycling after the end of use. The aim of the presented work is to provide a description of the manufacturing technology, with a definition of the possibility for the waste of single polymer polyester composites to undergo a full material recycling process, oriented towards use in shipbuilding. A proposed idea for recycling is in the preparatory stage and its assumptions and the process followed will be the subject of a patent application. This work forms part of the studies realized in the scope of the REP-SAIL Project under the ERA-NET Transport III Initiative Future Travelling, carried out at the Maritime University of Szczecin, and the prepared doctoral thesis entitled “Manufacturing, shaping of operational properties and recycling of single polymer composite materials”