Recycle poly(ethylene terphthalate) (RPET) was compounded with talc, glass bead and PEG in twin screw extruder with different cooling systems of hot air cooling and water cooling processes. The air cooling system allowed slow cooling and higher crystallized of RPET in the compounds, which resulting in higher crystllinity in the compounds as compared to the water cooling. Moisture content of the compounds decreased when increasing crystallinity. It is interesting to note that tensile properties of the RPET compunds would enhance when incorporated with talc filler and when lower moisture content values in the RPET compounds.
ABSTRACT:The effectiveness of compatibilizers in enhancing the dispersion of polypropylene (PP) at various molecular weights in recycled polyethylene terephthalate (RPET) was elucidated. The idea of incorporating PP of different molecular weights evolved from the intention of simultaneously recycling the PET bottles together with the PP-based bottle caps, which are often of low molecular weight (M w ). Three grades of PP with known molecular weights were blended with RPET at various loadings of compatibilizers. Morphological analyses suggest that the dispersion of the PP particles was more homogeneous, and the average particle size was smaller when low M w PP was incorporated. This indicates that the interaction between the compatibilizer and PP particles was more intense with the presence of a large number but shorter PP molecular chains. Moreover, specimens containing low M w PP were found to remain homogeneous regardless of compatibilizer and PP content in the RPET/PP blends. The homogeneity of the blends significantly affected their mechanical performance as well. Higher stiffness, yield strength, deformability, and toughness were observed when low M w PP was incorporated, regardless of PP and compatibilizer loadings.
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