Upcycling Post-Consumer Paint Pail Plastic Waste

The need for ending plastic waste and creating a circular economy has prompted significant interest in developing a new family of composite materials through recycling and recovery of waste resources (including bio-sourced materials). In this work, a family of natural fiber-reinforced plastic compos...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Polymers 2024-09, Vol.16 (18), p.2631
Main Authors: Balu, Rajkamal, Sharma, Swati, Roberts, Rachael, Vongsvivut, Jitraporn, Choudhury, Namita Roy
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aspect ratio
Australia
Compatibilizers
Composite materials
Contact angle
Diameters
Failure mechanisms
Fiber pullout
Fiber reinforced plastics
Fiber reinforced polymers
Flexural strength
Fourier transforms
Infrared analysis
Landfill
Maleic anhydride
Materials recovery
Mechanical properties
Mercury cadmium telluride
Morphology
Nitrogen
Polyethylene
Polymers
Polypropylene
Recycling
Recycling (Waste, etc.)
Rheological properties
Rheology
Sustainable materials
Tensile strength
Tensile tests
Thermal analysis
United Kingdom
Waste management
Wettability
Wool
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Summary:The need for ending plastic waste and creating a circular economy has prompted significant interest in developing a new family of composite materials through recycling and recovery of waste resources (including bio-sourced materials). In this work, a family of natural fiber-reinforced plastic composites has been developed from paint pail waste recycled polypropylene (rPP) and waste wool fibers of different diameter and aspect ratio. Composites were fabricated by melt processing using polypropylene-graft-maleic anhydride as a compatibilizer. The internal morphology, interfacial and thermal characteristics, viscoelastic behavior, water sorption/wettability, and mechanical properties of composites were studied using electron microscopy, high-resolution synchrotron Fourier transform infrared microspectroscopy, thermal analysis, rheology, immersion test, contact angle measurement, tensile test and flexural test. The composite matrix exhibited an internal morphology of coalescent micro-droplets due to the presence of polyethylene and dry paint in the rPP phase. In general, the rheological and mechanical properties of the composites comprising higher-aspect-ratio (lower diameter) fibers exhibited relatively superior performance. About an 18% increase in tensile strength and a 39% increase in flexural strength were measured for composites with an optimal fiber loading of 10 wt.%. Interfacial debonding and fiber pull-out were observed as the main failure mechanism of the composites. The developed composites have potential for applications in automotive, decking, and building industries.
ISSN:2073-4360
2073-4360
DOI:10.3390/polym16182631