A journey into recycling of waste elastomers via a novel type of compatibilizing additives

Abstract

Nowadays successful recycling of rubber waste has been one of the greatest challenges in waste management. Difficulties in mechanical recycling are especially caused by the variability of raw materials, therefore, a processing simply combining them usually results in end-products with poor mechanical stability. Drawbacks of mechanical recycling of mixed plastics and blends of plastics and rubbers can be overcome by application of compatibilizing additives. Taking the commercial types into account only a few general kinds are available and their effectiveness is hindered by the structure as it cannot be fitted to the chemical structures of plastics processed together. Our study has been addressed to give a comprehensive outlook into a rubber recycling process and successful application of compatibilizing strategies for improving mechanical performance of waste elastomer containing polypropylene. Investigations have been carried out on effective elastomer concentrations, meanwhile on elastomer ratios of various types to each other and on proper structures of compatibilizers. Various mechanical properties could be improved even by 44% due to experimental additives compared to uncompatibilized blends. Mechanical test results have been confirmed by SEM, rheology and FT-IR, to name some of them.

Valorization of waste polyethylene by blending with ethylene‐vinylacetate and incorporating a new type of compatibilizer

“…Experimental olefin-maleic-anhydride copolymer based additives (AD-1, AD-2) (Figure 1) as compatibilizer possessed four different types of functional groups (anhydride, half-ester, ester-amide and imide) and their polar behavior was controlled by changing their ratio to each other. [21] A commercial maleated HDPE (Polybond 3009 -PB) has been applied as a reference additive having a typical maleic anhydride content in the range of 0.8 to 1.2%, density of 0.95 g/cm 3 and melt temperature of 127 C. The concentration of compatibilizers was kept constant at 0.2 wt % based on preliminary experiences.…”

Remarkable Role of Experimental Olefin-Maleic-Anhydride Copolymer Based Compatibilizing Additives in Blends of Waste PET Bottles and Polyamide

“…As compatibilizing additives four distinct types of additives were applied, one was the commercial maleic-anhydride grafted polypropylene (LICOMONT AR504) supplied by Clariant GmbH (density: 0.91 g/cm 3 , acid number: 41 mg KOH/g sample), the other three additives [20] were experimental olefin-maleic-anhydride copolymer based types ("Appendix 2") synthesized at Department of MOL Hydrocarbon and Coal Processing used in the form of masterbatches.…”

Structural biomaterials engineered from lignocellulosic agricultural waste

“…Their modulus can be enhanced by organic or inorganic fillers, [3][4][5] while their impact resistance can be improved by elastomers. [6][7][8] As a result, polyolefins seem to be an obvious choice as matrix polymers for the preparation of composites and blends.…”

“…They are available at low price, and their properties can be tailored by various methods to create good and balanced properties for several applications. Their modulus can be enhanced by organic or inorganic fillers, 3–5 while their impact resistance can be improved by elastomers 6–8 . As a result, polyolefins seem to be an obvious choice as matrix polymers for the preparation of composites and blends.…”