As the plastics industry continues to grow, the amount of plastic waste increases.
The European Union is trying to reduce the amount of plastic waste through various
actions. Recycling is perhaps the best way to achieve this. The importance of polymer
composites has increased dramatically, and thanks to the spread of thermoplastic resin
transfer molding (T‐RTM), composites can be produced very efficiently. This is because
ɛ‐caprolactam, the monomer of polyamide 6 (PA6), can be processed at low pressures
like epoxy or any other thermoset resin due to its low viscosity. PA6 is produced
from ɛ‐caprolactam, activator, and catalyst by in situ ring‐opening polymerization
in a temperature‐controlled mold with sufficiently short cycle times. We produced
carbon fiber–reinforced composite sheets with PA6 as the matrix material by T‐RTM.
A special vertical injection molding machine and the corresponding in situ unit were
used for the experiments. We investigated the mechanical, thermal, and morphological
properties of continuous carbon fiber–reinforced composites—we performed mechanical
and thermal tests on the samples and compared the results with the properties of reference
sheets produced from the matrix material. Our goal was to produce high‐quality and
properly impregnated composite products suitable for engineering applications. Exploring
these relationships is essential for creating components with high aesthetic value,
which can be used in visible locations in addition to their load‐bearing role.
