From textile waste to advanced carbon materials for wind turbine blade manufacturing

Project Description:

Due to high tensile and compression strength, low weight, and resistance to corrosion, carbon reinforced composites (CRC) are normally placed within a typical turbine blade as the ‘spar’, the primary load bearing component of a blade. In this project we will explore utilisation of textile waste as a raw material for nano-carbon filaments production and their consequent application as a filler for CRC.

The novelty of the project will come from combining of two modern techniques in the area of nanomaterials manufacturing: (i) TCVD technology will be used to produce versatile nanostructured carbon filaments from waste textiles. (ii) The carbon filaments will be than processed by electrospinning technique to produce nano/microfibrous CRCs. Specifically, we will investigate the effect of the chemical nature of the textile material and processing conditions on both the morphology of the nanocarbons obtained and the mechanical characteristics of the resultant CRCs.

In summary, this project will address both the cost efficiency of bulk blade material production and low carbon transitions, by reduction of the overall carbon footprint from textile and wind turbine manufacture industries. It will also benefit communities and environment by optimised waste management leading to decreasing of landfill plastic waste and microplastic pollution of oceans.