Recyclability of a continuous e‐glass fiber reinforced polycarbonate composite

Abstract Fiber reinforced plastics are multi‐component materials for which physical properties are strongly dependent on fiber and resin structure. Despite the disruptive nature of recycling methods on such structures, these materials nevertheless can be recycled. In this report, the recyclability of a fiber‐reinforced cyclic BPA polycarbonate has been studied. It is found that ground up composite is recyclable and possesses properties as good as or better than a comparable commercial composite. The processing techniques investigated herein are injection, extrusion compression, and compression molding. As expected, processing technique and parameters are important in determining the mechanical properties of the molded regrind. Our results show that injection and extrusion compression molding yield recycled composites with good tensile properties, though the impact strengths are relatively low. This is due to high fiber orientation and fiber bundle dispersion. On the other hand, compression molded samples, which show random fiber orientation and low fiber bundles dispersion have relatively low tensile properties, but excellent impact strength. Results are discussed in terms of microstructural details, which include resin molecular weight and fiber length and orientation.