MATERIALS | REINFORCEMENT


their customers actually want. One of the drivers for delivering this product to the market is to try and test what our customers want and help provide some direction.”


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Carbon and aramid fibres “We see [double-digit] growth in projects using carbon and aramid fibres as reinforcement in compounds,” says Dieter Henau, Sales Manager and R&D for Technical Fibers at Apply Carbon, which is a subsidiary of Procotex. These projects, in areas such as automotive, sporting goods, and electrical and electronics, are the driver for the company’s investment in a fully automated carbon and aramid fibre recycling plant in Plouay, France, says Henau. The carbon-fibre recycling facility was commissioned in October 2023 and produces


Above: Apply Carbon uses recycled carbon fibre to make new fibre products


approximately 2,000 tonnes of recycled carbon fibre per year, with a nameplate capacity nearly 4,000 tonnes/yr. An adjacent facility for recycled para-aramid fibres has an annual production capacity exceeding 700 tonnes. Automation ensures cost-efficiency and batch-to-batch repro- ducibility, the company reports. The new facility has been designed for energy efficiency, using heat pumps and solar power, for example. “A major driver for the growing demand for


recycled fibres, next to their ability to now deliver outstanding performance and repeatable quality at affordable cost, is nowadays the increased focus on sustainability from customers and consumers across end markets,” says Hans Miltner, a senior consultant acting for Apply Carbon. “Reducing the so-called ‘scope 3 emissions’ has become a major objective of our customers. With this demand


comes the need for scale and maturity in the supply chain, which is why Apply Carbon has invested substantially to secure its market leader- ship position.” The company currently sources post-industrial carbon fibre for recycling. According to the company, the global-warming potential of its recycled fibre products is 85% lower than that of their virgin counterparts. In the future, the company expects to have more capacity to recycle post-con- sumer, end-of-life carbon feedstock using pyrolysis. Henau says that carbon fibres are used for


properties such as lightweighting, mechanical reinforcement, tribology, and electrical conductiv- ity. Aramid fibres are added for mechanical reinforcement, wear resistance and lubrification, especially in metal replacement compounds for machine parts or moving or rotating parts requiring high wear resistance, he explains. The company has recently developed two new


grades of carbon fibre with a PP sizing for blending into PP; CF MLD 300 G P1 is a 300-micron carbon fibre granulate and Carbiso P CF OS P1-6mm is a 6 mm carbon fibre grain. Recent tests of recycled carbon fibre in polycar-


bonate showed similar or better results than competitive virgin or recycled carbon fibre, Henau reports. The highest tensile modulus was found using the IM 6 mm cut carbon fibre with a sizing formulated specifically for the PC matrix. The best unnotched Charpy result was obtained with a mixture of carbon fibre and 40% glass fibre (see charts below). Growing application areas may include antistatic


packaging for electronics, electromagnetic interference shielding in automotive, metal-re- placement in various industrial parts, and 3D-print- ing, the company suggests.


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Apply Carbon says that tests of its recycled carbon fibre in polycarbonate showed similar or better results than competitive virgin or recycled carbon fibre. Left chart: The highest tensile modulus was found using the IM 6 mm cut carbon fibre with a sizing formulated specifically for the PC matrix. Right chart: The best unnotched Charpy result was obtained with a mixture of carbon fibre and 40% glass fibre


24 COMPOUNDING WORLD | June 2024


Source: Apply Carbon www.compoundingworld.com


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