Economic polymer-based waterproofing membranes by incorporation of wastes to form eco-friendly material

Abstract

Waste recycling is a way to produce innovative low cost eco-friendly materials to solve environmental problems caused by different types of industrial by-product and polymeric wastes. Natural rubber loaded with different types of waste materials Calcium Hydroxide Ca(OH)2, Calcium Carbonate (CaCO3), Fly Ash (class F) and Waste rubber (WR) by mixing through open mill and then pressed in hot press to obtain low cost eco-friendly waterproofing membranes with desired properties. All samples pass the water penetration test up to 6 bars. The samples water absorption coefficients ranged from (0.1 to 0.3%) for all investigated samples. UV weathering and thermal aging tests were done to the samples while no changes on mechanical properties appeared before and after the tests. Dimensional stability test was done for all samples; a slight dimension change occurs. The mechanical and hardness measurements for all samples were done while good mechanical properties obtained. The price of square meter of 2 mm thickness for all samples was calculated in order to estimate its feasibility. A comparison of our samples with other waterproofing membranes from two famous Egyptian companies was done. Low cost and qualified waterproofing material can be obtained from recycling of some wastes.

Innovation and characterization of a new multifunctional light weight low cost construction material from foamed rubber blend

“…From the above figure we can see that water absorption present decreases as the concentration of the foaming agent increases this may be due to the formation of closed pores in the matrix (illustrated in the microstructure analysis). It is clear from the above results that all samples lies in the range of water insulating materials, this considered a promising results for foamed rubber [26,38].…”

“…Vulcanization of the rubber compounds was carried out in an electrically heated uniaxial press between stainless steel plates at 150 o C and pressure 150 bar for a dwell time of 45 min. Samples were prepared by different shapes of molding according to the measurement types [26] Thermal Conductivity test conducted using KD2 -Pro portable thermal conductivity meter according to transient method techniques. Cubic samples of side length 5 cm at different temperature were used according to the standard .Each sample was cured for 24 hours at each temperature and then measured.…”

“…The importance of mechanical measurements lies in its role to evaluate rubber properties and its quality, the higher the cross linking density, the larger the force required stretching the film (tensile stress), the smaller elongation at break [26], the figure below shows that the tensile strength is lower for all concentration of foaming agent than that of pure rubber blend. It was found that the elastic modulus decreases by the addition of foaming agent at 2phr then gradually increase till 8phr and then decreased again which may be due to the small amount of closed pores formed at low foaming agent concentration then closed pores gradually increased tell 8phrleading stiffness increase.…”

Investigation of an insulating waste conscious material for sustainable building application

“…Waste CaCO3 were collected from a factory byproduct. The samples used to perform experimental tests were prepared with the recipe presented in Tables 1 and 2, The vulcanization of the rubber composites was carried out in a hydraulic press under a pressure of about 150 bar, temperature 150 o C and time of 45min [2].…”

“…Water absorption test, water tightness, thermal stability, UV weathering, hardness and mechanical measurements were investigated for natural rubber loaded with calcium hydroxide (CaOH), calcium carbonate (CaCO3), waste rubber and fly ash (class F) as industrial by products. The tests results showed that rubber loaded with waste rubber, fly ash and calcium carbonate are suitable for marketing as a waterproofing membranes [2]. An economical construction material may be obtained by natural rubber (NR) clay composite with desirable thermal, mechanical and waterproofing properties.…”