Auto-catalytic high-performance recyclable carbon fiber reinforced epoxy composites mediated by neighboring group participation

• Catalyst-free high-performance carbon fiber reinforced composites are obtained. • Neighboring group participation effect promotes the transesterification reaction. • Transesterification reaction endows the thermoset matrix with degradability. • Carbon fibers of the composites can be recycled in a non-destructive manner. Epoxy-based carbon fiber reinforced composites (CFRCs) are leading contenders in high-tech fields. However, the majority of CFRCs consisted of thermoset matrix and carbon fibers (CFs) are costly to produce and difficult to recycle. In this study, this problem has been solved by a simple strategy to prepare high-performance recyclable CFRCs from commercial-scale low-cost phthalic anhydride (PA) and diglycidyl ester of aliphatic cyclo (DGEAC). The rigid DGEAC/PA networks resulted in a glass transition temperature of ∼214 °C, a tensile strength of ∼79 MPa, and a Young’s modulus of ∼1.84 GPa. More importantly, the neighboring group participation (NGP) effect facilitated the transesterification reactions (TERs), making DGEAC/PA networks degradable in ethylene glycol. Accordingly, the CF/DGEAC/PA composites exhibited good mechanical properties comparable to conventional epoxy CFRCs, and the CFs could be recycled completely with similar features of the virgin CFs. This work provides an auto-catalytic sustainable approach for high-performance degradable CFRCs.