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Dr. Anne Beaucamp McLoughlin and professor Maurice N. Collins inspect a sheet of carbon fiber in the Bernal Institute at UL. Source | University of Limerick

The  (UL, Ireland) has developed a novel method for producing carbon fiber that reduces its energy footprint. Led under the CARBOWAVE project, the university’s research team uses a plasma and microwave heating method to make the fiber reinforcement, replacing conventional heating processes and reportedly reducing energy consumption by as much as 70% while maintaining same material performance as traditionally developed carbon fiber. Energy reduction requirements will make the process greener and less expensive, researchers say.

CARBOWAVE is coordinated by UL’s professor Maurice N. Collins and Dr. Anne Beaucamp McLoughlin. First results, of which were published in , will help to address environmental challenges like energy consumption and emissions while also contributing to sustainable industrial growth.

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Current carbon fiber production — particularly the conversion of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) —  is highly energy-intensive and relies heavily on electricity and natural gas. To mitigate this, the CARBOWAVE team deploys  susceptor-induced microwave heating using self-assembled nanostructures technology, initially developed by researchers at the University of Limerick and the University of Valencia (Spain), to convert PAN into carbon fibers.

Researchers say this will enable it to be heated quicker, improving process efficiency. CARBOWAVE’s solutions aim to reduce this energy use by more than 70% while maintaining material performance. Europe’s advanced carbon materials market, which dominates 37% of the global market, will directly benefit from this initiative.

“Europe’s reliance on energy-intensive processes has long been a barrier to achieving sustainability,” says Collins, principal investigator on the project and professor of materials science in UL’s School of Engineering. “CARBOWAVE addresses this challenge and is an exciting project which offers the potential to produce more sustainable and cheaper carbon fiber. The long-term implications are enormous as it could allow the deployment of carbon fiber in all sorts of applications where high strength and stiffness is needed, from construction, transportation, hydrogen storage to wind energy and beyond.”

The project unites research institutions and industry partners across Europe, with research team at UL partnering with the Deutsche Institute für Textil- und Faserforschung (Germany), the University of Valencia, Fraunhofer IFAM (Germany), Microwave Technologies Consulting SAS (France), Muegge GmbH (Germany), Centro Ricerche Fiat (Italy), Juno Composite Ltd (Ireland) and Eirecomposites Ltd. (Ireland).

CARBOWAVE is a European commission-funded initiative, designed to develop and implement alternative heating sources for energy-intensive industries by leveraging advanced plasma and microwave technologies. It is funded by the European Union.