Abstract:
With the rapid development of the wind power industry, the high-value recycling of a large number of decommissioned wind turbine blades has become a crucial issue that urgently needs to be addressed. The main body of wind turbine blades is made of thermosetting resin composites, whose stable three-dimensional cross-linked network makes it difficult to realize the recycling and regeneration of materials through traditional landfill methods. A systematic review is presented on the research progress of recycling technologies for waste wind turbine blades, with a focus on comparing and analyzing the technical principles, advantages, disadvantages, and application status of physical methods, thermochemical methods (incineration and pyrolysis), and solvolysis methods (oxidative degradation and catalytic degradation). It also elaborates on the catalytic degradation strategies and representative research advances in recent years targeting epoxy resins and unsaturated polyester resins. Research indicates that the catalytic degradation technology based on the selective cleavage of specific chemical bonds has advantages such as relatively mild reaction conditions, minimal fiber damage, and the ability to recover high- value-added monomers or oligomers. It has become the most promising resource utilization technology. Through the mutual matching of solvents, catalysts, and resin structures, the directional degradation of epoxy resins and unsaturated polyester resins can be achieved. In this context, the selective cleavage of phenyl alkyl ether bonds, C—N bonds, and ester bonds in epoxy resins enables the recovery of key monomers such as bisphenol A, bisphenol A glycidyl ether oligomers, and diacid compounds. For unsaturated polyester resins, the selective cleavage of ester bonds yields high-value chemicals including diols and their derivatives, phthalic acid, and styrene–maleic acid copolymer. The strength retention rate of fibers recovered by catalytic degradation technology can reach over 95%. This technology exhibits significant technical and economic advantages as well as green and sustainable potential, and serves as a core pathway for achieving high-value closed-loop recycling of decommissioned wind turbine blades. Finally, the future challenges and development directions in this field are prospected, aiming to provide theoretical reference and technical support for constructing a green and sustainable wind power industry chain.