New Approaches in Carbon Fibre Recycling: VDMA Sustainability Award for Innovative Surface Treatment

ITA PhD-student Sabina Dann has been awarded the Master Sustainability Prize of the VDMA Walter Reiners Foundation 2026. The prize, endowed with EUR 3,500, recognises outstanding master’s theses that contribute to sustainable technologies in mechanical engineering.

At the centre of the award-winning thesis titled “Towards Sustainable Waste Management: Electrochemical Surface Treatment of Carbon Fibres for Improved Reclamation and Solvolysis Resistance” is a novel approach for the sustainable recovery of carbon fibres from composite materials. Carbon fibres are a key material in modern lightweight applications, particularly in aerospace, automotive engineering, and mechanical engineering. At the same time, their recycling poses a significant technological challenge due to the sensitive fibre surfaces and complex composite structures.

In the awarded master’s thesis an electrochemical surface treatment of carbon fibres is investigated that is specifically aimed at increasing their resistance to solvolytic recovery processes. Through the formation of stable covalent bonds on the fibre surface, it is ensured that the functional and mechanical properties of the fibres are not lost during the recycling process.

This creates a crucial basis for the reusability of high-performance carbon fibres: instead of a degradation of material properties, the method enables the preservation of performance throughout the entire recovery process.

The benefit of the work lies particularly in its contribution to a genuine circular economy for high-performance composite materials. The results show that carbon fibres can in future not only be recycled, but also specifically stabilised in quality and made available again for industrial applications. This opens up new possibilities for resource-efficient production chains in lightweight construction and mechanical engineering.

Energy-efficient texturing

Lukas Balon was awarded the ‘Master’s Scholarship’ for his Master’s thesis, ‘Development of a CFD model for simulating flow in die-texturing’, along with prize money of EUR 3,500. During texturing, smooth, melt-spun man-made fibre yarns are given a crimped structure to achieve a softer feel, greater elasticity and high heat retention. Textured yarns are therefore used in clothing, upholstery fabrics and carpets. In the compression chamber texturing process, yarns are crimped aerodynamically by a hot air stream. Although the compression chamber is highly productive compared to other processes, it has so far only been suitable for the production of coarse carpet yarns. An expansion into other markets, such as home textiles, has not yet taken place. The reason for this is the complex flow within the compression chamber, which has only been addressed in a rudimentary manner in previous developments. As part of this work, the flow field was therefore first investigated using simulation and subsequently the influence of key process parameters was systematically analysed.

The results provide the first detailed insight into which flow phenomena influence the texturing of the draw chamber and how these can be controlled by adjusting the process parameters. The findings open up a wide range of possibilities for the development of new draw chambers, for example in terms of energy efficiency or novel yarn structures.

Microwaves in false-twist texturing

False-twist texturing is a key component in the production chain for man-made fibres. However, production speed is limited by a phenomenon known as ‘surging’. This causes significant fluctuations in yarn tension, leading to the yarn breaking more readily. The shorter the heater length, the higher the production speeds that can be achieved. Innovative concepts for shorter heaters are therefore necessary for more efficient production.

To this end, in her bachelor’s thesis ‘Analytical Design and Evaluation of a Microwave Heating Technology in the False Twist Texturing Process’, Annegret Storm presented a creative concept for a novel heater that heats the yarn using microwaves rather than convection. To this end, she analytically designed a resonator in which the yarn is to be heated. Using the finite element method, the temperature profiles within the heater were determined numerically. Annegret Storm then compared the microwave heater with a high-temperature heater, which, at approximately 800 mm, is the shortest heater to date. It emerged that the microwave heater enabled a reduction in heater length of approximately 60%.

These results are promising and, if further implemented, could lead to increased production in false-twist texturing. For her bachelor’s thesis, Annegret Storm was awarded the Walter Reiners Foundation’s sponsorship prize and prize money of EUR 3,000.