Mechanical properties of recycled LDPE/EVA/ground tyre rubber blends: Effects of EVA content and postirradiation

Abstract

Thermoplastic elastomers were prepared from recycled low density polyethylene [rLDPE] and virgin low density polyethylene (LDPE), respectively, ground tyre rubber (GTR), and ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) copolymer. The amounts of the rLDPE and GTR were fixed at 40 and 30 wt %, respectively, in the formulations, whereas the LDPE and EVA contents varied each between 0 and 30 wt %. The fresh LDPE served for reduction of the melt viscosity and EVA was used for improving the elastomeric properties. Blends of different compositions (by varying the LDPE/EVA ratio) were produced by twin‐screw extrusion and pelletized. Specimens were produced by injection molding and subjected to tensile and instrumented falling weight impact (IFWI) tests. To improve the mechanical performance of the blends, the injection molded specimens were electron beam irradiated at 150 kGy absorbed dose. Static tensile and hysteresis, IFWI and dynamic mechanical thermal analysis tests were performed on the specimens and the fracture surface was inspected with a scanning electron microscope. The results indicated that better rubber‐like properties were achieved with increasing EVA content. Moreover, postirradiation proved to be very beneficial, especially for blends containing relative high amounts of EVA. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012

Rotomolding of Thermoplastic Elastomers Based on Low-Density Polyethylene and Recycled Natural Rubber

“…In this case, the regeneration process did not improve the strain at break due to the presence of the regeneration aid and a nonuniform structure in the blends leading to lower strain at break [32]. All these results are in agreement with previous studies [14,33,34].…”

“…Another important parameter is the particle size distribution controlling the degree of phase separation or interfacial properties modifying the interfacial contact area. There is also the possibility of mixing raw rubber with recycled, and adding compatibilizers/coupling agents such as ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), maleic-anhydride-grafted polyethylene (MAPE), and ethylene-propylene-diene monomer (EPDM) [13,14].…”

Mechanical and barrier properties of thermoplastic whey protein isolate/ethylene vinyl acetate blends

“…EVA was chosen due to the wide processing window and suitable processing temperature (30–110°C) in combination with TPP at which thermo‐degradation can be avoided or reduced. In other studies EVA was blended with different polymers such as high‐density polyethylene (PE‐HD), low‐density polyethylene (PE‐LD), ground tyre rubber, polypropylene (PP), poly(ethyleneterephthalate) (PET), and polyamide 6 (PA6) as well as with nanoclays which indicates that EVA is well suitable for blending with other polymers and particles …”

Improving viscoelasticity and rebound resilience of crosslinked low-density polyethylene foam by blending with ethylene vinyl acetate and polyethylene-octene elastomer

“…The recovery of closed‐cell foams could be improved by increasing the viscoelastic recovery of the cell walls . Usually, polyethylene‐octylene elastomer (POE) and ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) were used to improve the toughness and break elongation of polyolefin . As reported in our previous work , the rebound resilience of LDPE foam could be increased from 33% to 55% by adjusting the contents of POE, crosslinking agent, and foaming agent.…”