Strictly speaking, it's not about the wind turbines as a whole, but about the wind turbine blades, which are currently made of composite materials that are difficult to recycle. This makes recycling very complicated, but a new composite resin is expected to save the day in the future: It can be converted into acrylic plexiglass, a superabsorbent polymer for diapers or into the food preservative potassium lactate , which is used as E326 in gummy bears or energy drinks.

A novel mix of materials

The new composite resin was presented at the fall meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS), a non-profit scientific organization that promotes chemical research in a variety of fields. Dr. John Dorgan, who presented the work at the meeting, said:

“The beauty of our resin system is that we can dissolve it at the end of its use cycle, releasing it from the matrix it is in and allowing it to be used over and over again in an infinite cycle. That is the goal of the circular economy.”

Although some companies have found ways to recycle fiberglass into lower-grade materials, most discarded wings in the U.S. end up in landfills ( we reported ). The problem is also exacerbated by the fact that ever larger wind turbine blades are being manufactured for efficiency reasons, and old blades are therefore being replaced before the end of their service life.

The new material mix combines glass fibers with a plant-based and a synthetic polymer. The panels made from this thermoplastic resin were strong and durable enough to be used in turbines or automobiles.

Versatile, reusable

  • By mixing the resin with various minerals, the team created cultured stone that can be turned countertops and sinks
  • The recovered material can also be crushed and mixed with other plastic resins for injection molding, which is used laptop cases and power tools
  • Digesting the thermoplastic resin in an alkaline solution released poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), a common acrylic material for windows , car taillights , and many other items.
  • By increasing the digestion temperature, PMMA was converted into poly(methacrylic acid), a superabsorbent polymer used diapers
  • The alkaline digestion also produced potassium lactate, which can be purified and processed candy and sports drinks

Conclusion

The results presented sound fantastic and would make green technology even greener. However, one hurdle is that a lot more of the composite resin has to be produced in order to be able to make wind turbine blades - and these then also have to prove themselves in practice.

Unfortunately, it may be a few years before we can read on the packaging of gummy bears or diapers: “ Made from recycled wind turbine blades .”

Article image: Pexels
Sources: ACS , Scientific American , ars technica


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