Thermoplastic vs. thermoset epoxy carbon textile composites

The main advantage of thermoplastic resins compared to thermoset counterpart are: increased toughness, better recyclability, and mainly the ability to deliver fast manufacturing processes. However, available thermoplastic resins (TP) have higher melt viscosity than thermoset ones. Due to high viscosity, the infusion process with conventional thermoplastic resins could lead to inappropriate impregnation of the fiber bundles. Recently, a thermoplastic epoxy resin (TP-EP) was developed with both advantages of thermoset and thermoplastic resins. The TP-EP couples the workability of thermoset, formability and recyclability of thermoplastic. The purpose of the present research is to comparatively assess the mechanical features of thermoplastic and thermoset epoxy carbon textile composites. As main outcome, the composite with highly polymerized thermoplastic epoxy has better mechanical performance than the conventional thermoset epoxy textile composite.