Impact strength elastomer composites based on polystyrene components separated from waste electrical and electronic equipment

Abstract

The reuse of plastic components of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is an important concern both for environmental issues and to preserve the material resources, with minimum energy consumption. Considering that polystyrene fraction was reported as approximate 80% of the total amount of WEEE plastic, this article aims to evaluate the recycling of this fraction, without separation by components, by melt compounding with styrene-butadiene block-copolymer (SBS) and hydrogenated and maleinized SBS, the blend of the two elastomers acting both as an impact modifier and compatibilizer. The composites are characterized by mechanical analysis, impact tests, dynamic mechanical analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analysis, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray analysis, and X-ray diffraction. The recycling conditions of the polystyrene fraction as composites without eliminating the WEEE additives for improved UV and flame resistance, with physical mechanical properties comparable to those of high-impact polystyrene resulted from the study.

Effect of Styrene-Diene Block Copolymers and Glass Bubbles on the Post-Consumer Recycled Polypropylene Properties

“…The storage modulus value in the rubbery region denotes the ability of macromolecules to resist the intermolecular slippage. The decrease of storage modulus with the introduction of block copolymer are in line with previous papers [15,52]. With the incorporation of GB 5% (vol.)…”

“…TG analysis in the range of 310-560 • C evidenced the oxidation of carbon [15], as the main decomposition step, where all composites lost more than 82% of the mass. DTG curves for elastomers ( Figure 6) showed two prominent peaks around 375.3 • C and 423.6 • C for SIS indicating a weight loss of 98.63% and one small peak at 452.3 • C assigned to SBS corresponding to a weight loss of 99.26%.…”

“…For example, by adding titanate coupling agent and talc (30%-40%), the melt flow index and toughness of PP increased [10]. Thermoplastic elastomers, such as ethylene propylene-rubber (EPR) [11,12], ethylene-propylene-diene (EPDM) [13], poly(styrene-b-ethylene/butylene-b-styrene) (SEBS), poly(styrene-b-butadiene-b-styrene) (SBS) [14] are also used for the melt processing of PP due to their compatibilizers and thermoplastic properties [15]. It has been documented that the blends of PP with thermoplastic elastomers are immiscible in melt processing and led to a lower interfacial adhesion [12].…”

Enhanced mechanical properties of recycled blends acrylonitrile–butadiene–styrene/high–impact polystyrene from waste electrical and electronic equipment using compatibilizers and virgin polymers

“…23 For instance, it can be used unreactive and reactive compatibilizers such as copolymers that present segments of the polymeric chain able to interact with distinct phases of the polymer blend. 24 For ABS/HIPS blends are increasingly used the copolymers styrene-acrylonitrile (SAN), styrene-butadiene-rubber (SBR), styrene-butadiene-styrene (SBS) 25,26 and styrene-ethylene-butylenestyrene (SEBS). 27,28 Other way for recovery of properties in recycled ABS/HIPS blends is the incorporation of virgin polymers ABS or HIPS, which can adjust the blend composition as well as to decrease the effects of properties loss caused by degradation during the lifetime of the material.…”

Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Processing as Thermoplastic Composites

“…Intensive research has been focused on reusing the waste in order to decrease the amount of incinerated or landfill waste. The aim of the paper was to melt process some compositions based on the polystyrene fraction of WEEE and on the non-metallic fraction of waste printed circuit boards (WPCB), and compositions that were selected considering the correlation between the mechanical properties of the polymeric composites and the economic advantages arising from the use of a larger amount of wastes [1][2][3].…”