Mechanical Properties of Recycled Polymer Composites Made from Side-Stream Materials from Different Industries

Anna Keskisaari, Timo Kärki and Tommi Vuorinen
Additional contact information
Anna Keskisaari: LUT School of Energy Systems, Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology, PO Box 20, 53851 Lappeenranta, Finland
Timo Kärki: LUT School of Energy Systems, Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology, PO Box 20, 53851 Lappeenranta, Finland
Tommi Vuorinen: VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd, Solutions for Natural Resources and Environment, PO Box 1300, FI-33101 Tampere, Finland

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 21, 1-10

Abstract: This study examines the mechanical properties of thermoplastic polymer composites manufactured by utilizing different side-stream materials as fillers. Two composites were manufactured from side-stream materials from the construction industry, two were manufactured from side-stream materials from the paper industry, and one was manufactured from side-stream materials from a coating factory. The matrix polymer used in the composites originated from recycling facility. The side-stream materials were used as fillers. One composite was manufactured as a reference by using wood-fiber as the filler. The tensile properties and impact strength were tested. The materials were also observed with a scanning electron microscope. Compared to the reference material, tensile strength and modulus decreased in all cases except for the sludge from the paper industry. The sludge also improved the impact strength remarkably, as the impact strength with the stone wool and stone dust from the construction industry remained the same, while the values were weakened for the others. Scanning electron microscope images showed that powder coating waste from the coating factory increased porosity and, thus, decreased the density of the material.

Keywords: Recycling; polymer composite; industrial side-streams; mechanical properties (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/21/6054/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/21/6054/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:21:p:6054-:d:282534

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().