中科院宁波材料所刘小青：环氧树脂的化学降解回收——心腹之患与燃眉之急

Core Viewpoint - The article discusses the importance of developing efficient and controllable degradation and recycling technologies for epoxy resins, which are widely used in various industries but pose significant environmental challenges due to their non-recyclable nature after curing [2][5]. Group 1: Epoxy Resin Characteristics and Challenges - Epoxy resins are crucial thermosetting materials known for their excellent adhesion, insulation, chemical resistance, and mechanical strength, commonly used in automotive, aerospace, wind power, and electronics [2]. - Once cured, epoxy resins cannot be reprocessed through heating or solvent dissolution, leading to waste management issues such as landfill disposal, crushing, or chemical decomposition, which contribute to resource waste and environmental pollution [2][5]. Group 2: Innovative Solutions and Research Developments - A new modification strategy based on commercial epoxy resin systems has been proposed to address the industry pain points of insufficient service stability and high costs, allowing for rapid and controllable degradation of the cured network under mild conditions (<120 °C) with a degradation rate exceeding 99.9% [3]. - The developed materials maintain excellent service performance and recycling potential, achieving a bending strength of 140 MPa and a glass transition temperature of up to 150 °C, thus overcoming the technical barriers between high performance and recyclability [3]. Group 3: Market Potential and Future Applications - The International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts that by 2030, the global dry transformer market will exceed $12 billion, with over 60% of equipment needing to be recyclable and environmentally friendly [5]. - Current recycling rates for retired traditional epoxy insulation materials are below 8%, highlighting the urgent need for advancements in chemical recycling and reuse of epoxy resins and their composites [5]. Group 4: Conference and Knowledge Sharing - Liu Xiaoqing, a researcher from the Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, will present findings on high-value chemical degradation and recycling of epoxy resins for electronic encapsulation at the 2025 Polymer Recycling Conference in Ningbo from December 11-13 [2][5][8].