The rapid increase in the application of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composite materials represents a challenge to waste recycling. The circular economy approach coupled with the possibility of recovering carbon fibers from CFRP waste with similar properties to virgin carbon fibers at a much lower cost and with lower energy consumption motivate the study of CFRP recycling. Mechanical recycling methods allow the obtention of chopped composite materials, while both thermal and chemical recycling methods aim towards recovering carbon fibers. This review examines the three main recycling methods, their processes, and particularities, as well as the reuse of recycled carbon fibers in the manufacture of new composite materials.

Bio-based composites are reinforced polymeric materials in which one of the matrix and reinforcement components or both are from bio-based origins. The biocomposite industry has recently drawn great attention for diverse applications, from household articles to automobiles. This is owing to their low cost, biodegradability, being lightweight, availability, and environmental concerns over synthetic and nonrenewable materials derived from limited resources like fossil fuel. The focus has slowly shifted from traditional biocomposite systems, including thermoplastic polymers reinforced with natural fibers, to more advanced systems called hybrid biocomposites. Hybridization of bio-based fibers/matrices and synthetic ones offers a new strategy to overcome the shortcomings of purely natural fibers or matrices. By incorporating two or more reinforcement types into a single composite, it is possible to not only maintain the advantages of both types but also alleviate some disadvantages of one type of reinforcement by another one. This approach leads to improvement of the mechanical and physical properties of biocomposites for extensive applications. The present review article intends to provide a general overview of selecting the materials to manufacture hybrid biocomposite systems with improved strength properties, water, and burning resistance in recent years.

Chemically speaking, polyamide 11 (PA11) and polyamide 12 (PA12) have a similar backbone, differing only in one carbon. From an origin point of view, PA11 is considered a bioplastic polyamide composed from renewable resources, compared to oil-based PA12. Each of them has a number of advantages over the other, which makes their selection a challenging issue. Depending on the target application, diverse assessments and comparisons are needed to fulfill this mission. The current study addresses this research gap to characterize and compare PA11 and PA12 manufactured by the hot press technique in terms of their mechanical, thermal and durability properties for the first time, demonstrating their potential for future works as matrices in composite materials. In this regard, different characterization techniques are applied to the hot-pressed polymer sheets, including X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The mechanical performance of the PA11 and PA12 sheets is compared based on tensile tests and shore hardness measurement. The durability behavior of these two polyamides is evaluated in water and relative humidity conditions at different aging times. The experimental results show the ductile behavior of PA12 with respect to the quasi-brittle PA11. Both have a relatively small water and moisture gain: 1.5 wt% and 0.8 wt%, respectively. The higher crystallinity of PA12 (2.1 times more than PA11) with γ-phase is one of the leading parameters to achieve better mechanical and durability properties. The FTIR spectra displayed slight acid hydrolysis. Accordingly, absorbed water or moisture does not cause plasticization; thus, neither hardness nor dimension changes.