Development of recycled polymer composites for structural applications

Abstract

This paper is concerned with the formulation of composite materials for structural or semistructural applications using thermoplastic polymer waste. The mechanical and thermal properties of a proprietary blend of recycled polymers with a range of different fillers were investigated. The effect varied with the aspect ratio of the filler and the mode of loading. Spherical calcium carbonate gave a marginal improvement in modulus. Plate-like mica produced a significant increase in modulus without reduction in strength. Glass fibres caused a significant increase in modulus and strength while decreasing the linear coefficient of thermal expansion. Hybrid systems containing glass fibre and a lower aspect ratio filler were also investigated to obtain a material system which combines high properties and reasonably low cost. It was found that addition of small quantities of mica to glass fibre reinforced blends exhibited a significant synergy in tensile strength and modulus.

Keywords:

• Recycled
• Thermoplastic
• Mica
• Glass fibre
• Polymer blend
• Composites

The authors wish to acknowledge Z. B. Marzuki for his assistance in the mechanical testing and C. Magnus for his assistance in dynamic mechanical analysis testing. In addition, the authors wish to acknowledge DTI-KTP for funding of the project.

Notes

This paper is part of a special issue on Latest developments in research on composite materials