Recovery and Requalification of Functional Fillers from Cured Photopolymer Composites: Separation, Surface State and Performance

Recovering a particulate phase from a cured photopolymer composite is materially different from recycling the polymer network. A primary stereolithography study demonstrated chemically triggered degradation of thioester composite networks with 91% recovery of the composite filler [1], establishing direct feasibility of selective filler recovery. Separate studies show that mechanically recycled cured DLP resin particles [2] and diverse recycled polymer powders [3] can be reincorporated into photocurable matrices, but these are reuse-as-filler routes rather than recovery of an original functional filler. ER-276 therefore defines the evidence needed to claim recovery and requalification of a functional filler: close the filler mass balance, separate residual polymer and process chemicals, measure particle-size and morphology change, characterise surface chemistry and agglomeration, demonstrate dispersion and optical/rheological compatibility in the new resin, and verify the property that made the filler functional. A recovered mass percentage alone cannot establish preserved filler identity, surface state or performance, and no universal recovery chemistry, acceptable surface contamination or reincorporation fraction is prescribed.

ER-276 · Version v0.2.