Composites from commingled waste plastics: Effects of feedstock compositional variations

Conference · Tue Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1996

OSTI ID:603026

Xanthos, M; Dey, S K ^[1]; Sebastian, D H ^[1]

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1. New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ (United States)

Commercial, institutional and industrial waste plastic streams yield {open_quotes}tailings{close_quotes} or residue mixtures that cannot be efficiently recovered by present day reclamation processes. Processing of mixed thermoplastics to produce marketable products is essential for efficient plastic recycling. At the present time, the development of profitable operations has been slow because significant markets have not been developed. This reflects the inadequate performance of the products at the present cost. Upgrading properties through compatibilization and/or through reinforcement would assist the identification of new products/applications where molding compounds based on commingled streams can be used. The addition of inorganic fibrous reinforcements as the primary load-bearing element is logically expected to minimize the effects of compositional variations in the incoming feedstock and contribute to enhanced and reproducible properties. We address the issue of compositional variations in multiphase, multicomponent polymer mixtures equivalent to those found in commingled waste streams such as those obtained from reclamation/recycling operations of post-consumer containers. Specifically, we investigate the effects of variations in polymer composition on the properties of composites containing inorganic fibrous reinforcements such as glass or vitrified fly ash. In addition, we study the option of enhancing through additional compatibilizers/coupling agents the polymer/polymer and/or polymer/fiber interface to develop reliable property data that could be used in design with recycled resins. Thus, the goals of the research are: (i) to develop fiber reinforced formulations whose properties will show little dependency on compositional variations in the waste feedstock, and, (ii) develop rheological and mechanical property data that could be used in product design with recycled resins, in particular with CAD flow and solid property software.

• OSTI ID: 603026
• Report Number(s): CONF-961108--
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

09 BIOMASS FUELS
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
COST
FLY ASH
GLASS
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
MIXTURES
MOLDING
PLASTICS
PROCESSING
RECYCLING
RESINS
THERMOPLASTICS
WASTE MANAGEMENT