63004 2025 eng lecture 0 -- -- -- With the increased use of carbon fibre polymer matrix composites comes the important question of their management at the end of their life cycle. Given the high costs associated with carbon fibre production, recycling carbon fibres from composite waste is a desirable source of reinforcing fibres for new applications. However, current recycling methods result in recycled carbon fibres that are short with little to no orientation which can only be used in applications requiring intermediate strength at a fraction of the potential of the continuous, aligned virgin fibres. Thus, a method to recycle fibres with their original length and orientation intact is vital to truly realising a circular economy for carbon fibre polymer composites. Our research introduces a novel hierarchical composite aimed at preserving the length and orientation of carbon fibres on recycling. Virgin carbon fibres are encapsulated in an insoluble epoxy matrix to form tapes that serve as the primary units of the hierarchical structure. The primary epoxy matrix protects the fibres from chemical and environmental elements while maintaining their permanent orientation. The primary tape units are subsequently embedded in a secondary recyclable matrix polymer to make larger composite structures. Elium, a thermoplastic that dissolves in acetone and has mechanical properties comparable to epoxy, was chosen as the secondary matrix of choice in this study. This approach aims to achieve a composite that is mechanical equivalent to thermoset composites while facilitating easy recycling with minimal impact on the fibres in the primary unit. Materials Week 2025 Frankfurt am Main, Germany 02.04.25 04.04.25 1 publish false true Carol Rodricks eng uncontrolled Recycling eng uncontrolled Carbon fibres eng uncontrolled Mechanical testing eng uncontrolled Polymer-matrix composites (PMCs), micromechanics eng uncontrolled Elium Angewandte Physik 5 Werkstofftechnik 5.3 Polymere Verbundwerkstoffe Energie Datei im Netzwerk der BAM verfügbar ("Closed Access") Präsentation Windenergie