Efficient recycling of epoxy resin composites via ionic-liquid-promoted amine enrichment

Benefiting from their well-balanced properties, epoxy resin composites are extensively employed in coatings, electronic packaging, structural components, and various other high-value applications. The growing consumption of epoxy resins has made the recycling of epoxy-based composites increasingly significant. However, current recycling and disposal methods mainly rely on incineration and landfilling, which may cause environmental pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Moreover, most existing recycling methods require epoxy composite panels to be crushed before treatment, which increases processing complexity and limits the recovery of intact fibers. Thus, it is essential to establish recycling routes that combine environmental sustainability with economic feasibility. Herein, we report an ionic-liquid-assisted chemical recycling strategy for the simultaneous recovery of epoxy resin and intact fibers. In this system, the ionic liquid promotes interfacial MXDA enrichment, resin swelling, amine diffusion, and selective aminolysis of ester linkages in the epoxy network. Notably, the recycled carbon fibers showed high performance retention, with tensile strength reaching 96% of that of the original fibers. The recycled epoxy resin exhibited a tensile strength of 80.5 MPa, a break elongation of 5.27%, a flexural strength of 107 MPa, and a flexural strain at break of 9.94%. The recycled epoxy-derived materials were also used to prepare oil-water separation adsorbents, successfully achieving selective separation and adsorption of oil from water. Overall, this study demonstrates an ionic-liquid-assisted chemical recycling strategy for the efficient recovery of carbon fibers and the value-added reutilization of resin-derived degradation products from epoxy resin composites.