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  Researchers from the University of Sydney’s School of Civil Engineering have developed an optimized method for recycling CFRP composites while maintaining 90 percent of their original strength. Loss of Properties in Recycled Products Until now, it has been difficult to continuously recycle products made of carbon fibers. Given that most recycling involves shredding, cutting or grinding, fibers are worn out, decreasing a future product’s viability. “ Globally and in Australia there has been a march towards better recycling processes, however there is often the belief that a material can be recycled an infinite number of times – this simply isn’t the case. Most recycling processes diminish mechanical or physical properties of materials ,” said the study’s lead researcher Dr Ali Hadigheh. This presents a huge challenge and threat to the environment, as it has led to the production of virgin carbon fibre which contributes significantly to greenhouse gas emissions. Cost-effective Meth...

It's Story-Time What was the first application of carbon fibers? It's not what you are thinking! 👀 Carbon fibers are older than you imagine! The first carbon fibers date back to 1860! In 1879, a certain guy named Thomas Edison chose carbon fibers to manufacture light bulb filaments. At that time, they were not petroleum-based. Instead, they were produced through the pyrolysis of cotton or bamboo filaments. These filaments were ''baked'' at high temperatures to cause carbonization to take place. But why were they chosen? The answer is pretty straightforward and has nothing to do with high strength! At the time, Edison noticed that their high heat tolerance made them ideal electrical conductors. However, soon later tungsten took over as the light bulb filament of choice in the early 1900s, and carbon fiber became obsolete for the next 50 years or so.  During the 1960s, a Japanese researcher named Akio Shindo, manage to manufacture carbon fibers using PAN as a pre...