Comparison between the Mechanical Recycling Behaviour of Amorphous and Semicrystalline Polymers: A Case Study
The increase in waste has motivated the adoption of the circular economy concept, which assumes particular relevance in the case of plastic materials. This has led to research of new possibilities for recycling plastics after their end-of-life. To achieve this goal, it is fundamental to understand h...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2023-01-01
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| Series: | Recycling |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2313-4321/8/1/12 |
| _version_ | 1797618515716341760 |
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| author | André A. Costa Pedro G. Martinho Fátima M. Barreiros |
| author_facet | André A. Costa Pedro G. Martinho Fátima M. Barreiros |
| author_sort | André A. Costa |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The increase in waste has motivated the adoption of the circular economy concept, which assumes particular relevance in the case of plastic materials. This has led to research of new possibilities for recycling plastics after their end-of-life. To achieve this goal, it is fundamental to understand how the materials’ properties change after recycling. This study aims to evaluate the thermal and mechanical properties of recycled plastics, namely polycarbonate (PC), polystyrene (PS), glass fibre-reinforced polyamide 6 (PA6-GF30), and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). With this purpose, injected samples were mechanically recycled twice and compared through thermal and mechanical tests, such as differential scanning calorimetry, hardness, tensile strength, and the melt flow rate. The results show that the amorphous materials used do not suffer significant changes in their properties but exhibit changes in their optical characteristics. The semicrystalline ones present some modifications. PET is the material that suffers the biggest changes, both in its flowability and mechanical properties. This work demonstrates that the mechanical recycling process may be an interesting possibility for recycling depending on the desired quality of final products, allowing for some materials to maintain comparable thermal and mechanical properties after going through the recycling process. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T08:13:49Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6d13fb87d7c44330ad8d7d27b2e458f7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2313-4321 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T08:13:49Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Recycling |
| spelling | doaj.art-6d13fb87d7c44330ad8d7d27b2e458f72023-11-16T22:58:21ZengMDPI AGRecycling2313-43212023-01-01811210.3390/recycling8010012Comparison between the Mechanical Recycling Behaviour of Amorphous and Semicrystalline Polymers: A Case StudyAndré A. Costa0Pedro G. Martinho1Fátima M. Barreiros2School of Technology and Management, Polytechnic of Leiria, 2411-901 Leiria, PortugalSchool of Technology and Management, Polytechnic of Leiria, 2411-901 Leiria, PortugalSchool of Technology and Management, Polytechnic of Leiria, 2411-901 Leiria, PortugalThe increase in waste has motivated the adoption of the circular economy concept, which assumes particular relevance in the case of plastic materials. This has led to research of new possibilities for recycling plastics after their end-of-life. To achieve this goal, it is fundamental to understand how the materials’ properties change after recycling. This study aims to evaluate the thermal and mechanical properties of recycled plastics, namely polycarbonate (PC), polystyrene (PS), glass fibre-reinforced polyamide 6 (PA6-GF30), and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). With this purpose, injected samples were mechanically recycled twice and compared through thermal and mechanical tests, such as differential scanning calorimetry, hardness, tensile strength, and the melt flow rate. The results show that the amorphous materials used do not suffer significant changes in their properties but exhibit changes in their optical characteristics. The semicrystalline ones present some modifications. PET is the material that suffers the biggest changes, both in its flowability and mechanical properties. This work demonstrates that the mechanical recycling process may be an interesting possibility for recycling depending on the desired quality of final products, allowing for some materials to maintain comparable thermal and mechanical properties after going through the recycling process.https://www.mdpi.com/2313-4321/8/1/12injection mouldingthermal and mechanical propertiesmechanical recyclingpolycarbonate (PC)polystyrene (PS)glass fibre-reinforced polyamide 6 (PA6-GF30) |
| spellingShingle | André A. Costa Pedro G. Martinho Fátima M. Barreiros Comparison between the Mechanical Recycling Behaviour of Amorphous and Semicrystalline Polymers: A Case Study Recycling injection moulding thermal and mechanical properties mechanical recycling polycarbonate (PC) polystyrene (PS) glass fibre-reinforced polyamide 6 (PA6-GF30) |
| title | Comparison between the Mechanical Recycling Behaviour of Amorphous and Semicrystalline Polymers: A Case Study |
| title_full | Comparison between the Mechanical Recycling Behaviour of Amorphous and Semicrystalline Polymers: A Case Study |
| title_fullStr | Comparison between the Mechanical Recycling Behaviour of Amorphous and Semicrystalline Polymers: A Case Study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Comparison between the Mechanical Recycling Behaviour of Amorphous and Semicrystalline Polymers: A Case Study |
| title_short | Comparison between the Mechanical Recycling Behaviour of Amorphous and Semicrystalline Polymers: A Case Study |
| title_sort | comparison between the mechanical recycling behaviour of amorphous and semicrystalline polymers a case study |
| topic | injection moulding thermal and mechanical properties mechanical recycling polycarbonate (PC) polystyrene (PS) glass fibre-reinforced polyamide 6 (PA6-GF30) |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2313-4321/8/1/12 |
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