Determination of Mechanical and Tribological Properties of Silicone-Based Composites Filled with Manganese Waste

Abstract

High-tonnage industrial processes generate high amount of waste. This is a growing problem in the whole world. Neutralizing such waste can be time consuming and costly. One of the possibilities of their reuse is to use them as fillers in polymer composites. Introduction of the filler in polymer matrix causes change in its mechanical and tribological properties. In the article, the effect of introducing fillers from post-production waste, and its effect on changing the physical properties of silicone-based composites filled with manganese (II) oxide and waste manganese residue was investigated. The composites were made by gravity casting. Composites with 2.5, 5, 7.5, and 10 wt% of the fillers were examined. The composite materials were subjected to tests such as: density, hardness, resilience, tensile test, abrasion resistance, and ball-on-disc. Microscopic images showed that, the particles of the fillers are uniformly distributed in silicone matrix with the formation of smaller agglomerates. Such agglomerates introduced a discontinuity in the structure of the polymer material, which caused a decrease in the tensile strength and elongation at break for all tested compositions in comparison with the mechanical properties of the silicone used as the matrix. However, it was found that all silicone-based composites filled with manganese (II) oxide and manganese residue showed a reduction in abrasive wear, compared to the reference sample.

Fabrication and tribological behavior of MnO2/epoxy nanocomposites

“…53 Mrówka et al found that adding manganese (II) oxide and manganese residue to silicone-based composites significantly improved the density, resilience, hardness, and tribological properties when compared to neat epoxy. 54 However, there are few research papers available on the material MnO 2 /epoxy nanocomposite. The tribological properties of MnO 2 /epoxy nanocomposite are also unknown.…”

Thermal, Dynamic Mechanical, Mechanical and Flammability Properties of Halloysite Nanotubes Filled Polyamide 11 Nanocomposites

“…Table 1 shows that as the HNTs content increased from 2 to 6 phr, the temperature at 10% weight loss decreased from 437.2 ℃ to 435.3 ℃ and 434.4 ℃, the temperature at the maximum rate of degradation decreased from 466.9 ℃ to 464.1 ℃ and 463.3 ℃ and the final degradation temperature decreased from 495.1 ℃ to 488.9 ℃ and 487.2 ℃, respectively. With increased filler addition, there was an increase in residue [28]. Because of the gradual increase of polymer chain mobility, the presence and effectiveness of HNTs as a nanofiller could be linked to an increase in thermal stability [29].…”

Influence of Citrus Fruit Waste Filler on the Physical Properties of Silicone-Based Composites

“…The Silesian University of Technology research using silicones as the composite matrices resulted in several results in which composites with organic and non-organic filling were tested. The study used inorganic zinc and manganese wastes from the steel industry as fillers in silicone-based composites [42,43].…”