Recycling and Mechanical Characterization of Polymer Blends Present in Printers

Abstract

More and more electronic devices are being produced and most of them are disposed of improperly. In addition, as they contain heavy metals and toxic substances in their composition, the environmental impact increases. This work aims to study the recycling of polymers present in e-waste through the mechanical characterization of polymer blends produced with the main polymers present in printers. To do so, printers were dismounted, the material of the components was classified, and the main polymers were processed. The sample consisted of 20 printers, from which HIPS-90%/PS-10%, HIPS-90%/ ABS-10% and HIPS-100%, blends were processed by extrusion and injection of specimens with tensile test geometry. The tensile strength was 39.0 MPa for HIPS/ABS, and 37.5 MPa for HIPS/PS. Despite having slightly different mechanical properties, probably due to possible variations in their chemical composition, the formulations have good quality and potential for use in new products such as hangers, organizing boxes, soles and, watering cans.

Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Study regarding the plastic composition

“…The polystyrenic polymers (PS, ABS, HIPS) were identified based on the specific absorption bands, respectively: 3200-2800 cm -1 -aromatic and aliphatic C-H stretch; 1602 and 1494 cm -1 -aromatic ring; 1452 cm -1 -CH 2 scissoring; 900-966 cm -1 -unsaturated groups from polybutadiene phase; 700-770 cm -1 -aromatic ring or substituted phenyl ring [12].…”

“…In the literature, there were reported two ways of reintroducing the polymer components of these recovered materials into the economic circuit: the individual recycling of polymers and their composites, and the collective recycling of these polymeric materials [8][9][10][11][12].…”

Reaproveitamento de resíduo de placas de circuito impresso como cargas em compósitos de polipropileno

“…No ano de 2016, a geração global de lixo eletrônico atingiu 44,7 milhões de toneladas, equivalente 6,1 kg por habitante, com previsão de atingir 52,2 milhões de toneladas e 6,8 kg por habitante em 2021 [1]. A reciclagem, por exemplo, da fração de polímeros desse e-waste depende da correta separação na desmontagem bem como do controle do processamento [2].…”

“…Plantas mais desenvolvidas possuem sistemas próprios para coleta e destinação do pó, porém o processo de separação e recuperação de metais valiosos a partir deste pó é mais complexo em relação às partículas de maior granulometria. Considerando-se que apenas uma porcentagem da poeira gerada durante o processamento mecânico de PCIs pode ser reutilizada, sendo a outra parcela descartada em aterros, caracteriza-se então um problema sério na destinação do lixo eletrônico, pois este contém substâncias tóxicas como mercúrio, cádmio e chumbo (SCHNEIDER et al 2018 [2]).…”

Composites of Styrene-butadiene Block-copolymers Reinforced with WEEE Polystyrene Fraction

“…The mechanical recycling in the melt state of binary mixtures (ABS, HIPS) or of the total polystyrene copolymers without additional components leads to materials with modest physical-mechanical properties. These composites are however used in the production of items that do not require special performance properties such as clothes hangers, plates, organizing boxes, water collection tanks [11,12].…”