TY - JOUR
T1 - Separation of carbon fibers in water using microbubbles generated by hydrogen bubble method
AU - Matsuura, Koji
AU - Uchida, Takahiro
AU - Guan, Chao
AU - Yanase, Shinichiro
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was partly promoted by the COI program Construction of next-generation infrastructure using innovative materials ∼Realization of safe and secure society that can coexist with the Earth for centuries∼”, supported by the Japan Science and Technology Agency ( JST ). K.M. would like to thank Keiji Naruse (Okayama University) for the SEM observation. Manuscript preparation was partly supported by Keigo Ikeda (Okayama University).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2018
Y1 - 2018
N2 - Carbon fibers (CF) are widely used for the reinforcement of plastics, and recycling them using water processes must meet environmental impact requirements. To recover CFs from water with reduced environmental risk, we developed a separation system that consisted of a 125-L cubic container with electrodes to generate microbubbles (MB) by hydrolysis. Microbubbles were adsorbed onto the CFs in the container, and after 30 min of electrolysis, the CFs floated to the surface because of the buoyancy of the adsorbed MBs. The recovery rate was dependent on the CF lengths and a surface treatment using sizing chemicals. Based on our mechanical model and calculating the difference between the MB buoyancy and CF gravity, the flotation efficiency was regulated by the CF length, bundle diameter, and MB adsorption ratio, which supported the experimental results. Using this technology, CFs and glass fibers can be separated in water from their mixtures, and the toxicological and environmental risks can be reduced.
AB - Carbon fibers (CF) are widely used for the reinforcement of plastics, and recycling them using water processes must meet environmental impact requirements. To recover CFs from water with reduced environmental risk, we developed a separation system that consisted of a 125-L cubic container with electrodes to generate microbubbles (MB) by hydrolysis. Microbubbles were adsorbed onto the CFs in the container, and after 30 min of electrolysis, the CFs floated to the surface because of the buoyancy of the adsorbed MBs. The recovery rate was dependent on the CF lengths and a surface treatment using sizing chemicals. Based on our mechanical model and calculating the difference between the MB buoyancy and CF gravity, the flotation efficiency was regulated by the CF length, bundle diameter, and MB adsorption ratio, which supported the experimental results. Using this technology, CFs and glass fibers can be separated in water from their mixtures, and the toxicological and environmental risks can be reduced.
KW - Carbon fibers
KW - Flotation
KW - Hydrolysis
KW - Microbubbles
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U2 - 10.1016/j.seppur.2017.08.065
DO - 10.1016/j.seppur.2017.08.065
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85028704650
SN - 1383-5866
VL - 190
SP - 190
EP - 194
JO - Separation and Purification Technology
JF - Separation and Purification Technology
ER -