Poly(propylene)/waste vulcanized ethylene- propylene-diene monomer (PP/WEPDM) blends prepared by high-shear thermo-kinetic mixer

Abstract

Polypropylene (PP)-waste elastomer blends are particularly attractive as an economical way of producing sustainable materials, relieving the stress on the environment. Although PP is a commodity thermoplastic finding employment in various applications, its relatively low impact strength might be a significant factor limiting the variety of uses in many industries. Extensive consumption of thermoset elastomers has been a worldwide waste disposal problem. Here, we describe a facile, economical method for reuse of waste ethylene-propylene-diene monomer (EPDM) rubber to produce impact resistant blend materials with the PP via a high-shear thermokinetic mixer. In these blends, waste EPDM was used in various concentrations ranging from 20 to 80 wt%, as the remaining part, PP acts as a carrier matrix or a physical binder depending on the concentration in the blend. Briefly, fivefold increase was achieved in the impact resistance of PP by the addition of 60 wt% EPDM waste. The blend with 80 wt% waste EPDM shows characteristics similar to a thermoplastic elastomer. The conclusion of the study is that the blending method is quite effective to produce high-performance blend materials

Poly(lactide)/cellulose nanocrystal nanocomposites by high‐shear mixing

“…The working principle and other technical details of the device were previously reported by our group. [ 28–32 ] Briefly, the blend components in particle form are accelerated by blades mounted on a high‐speed shaft in a closed chamber. Part of the kinetic energy of the particles is then converted to thermal energy when they collide with the chamber wall.…”

“…The high‐shear mixing has proven to be a facile technique that allows for compounding thermoplastics with various additives even at very high filler contents (up to 80 wt% in some cases). [ 28,29 ] Most recently, we utilized this technique to facilitate recycling of both synthetic and natural wastes by reusing them as high‐added value additives to overcome main limitations of PLA. [ 30,31 ] In this regard, we produced PLA/waste cellulose microfiber (WCF) composites with fiber contents up to 30 wt% and demonstrated how much waste can be recycled by this facile technique.…”

A Sustainable Approach to Produce Stiff, Super-Tough, and Heat-Resistant Poly(lactic acid)-Based Green Materials

“…All mixtures were prepared by a Gelimat G1 lab-scale high-shear thermo-kinetic mixer − (Draiswerke) with a shaft speed of 5200 rpm, until the compounds temperature reached to 190 °C. They were granulated and then injection-molded using an Xplore 12 mL micro-injection molding machine.…”

“…Accordingly, we also address another question as follows: Can high-cost additives be replaced with waste materials to be used in the production of super-tough PLA-based materials? In fact, the toughening of commodity plastics with waste materials, such as waste rubber particles, is a well-known concept . However, the proof of this concept, to the best of our knowledge, has not been demonstrated yet in PLA literature.…”

Preliminary Investigation on Auto-Thermal Extrusion of Ground Tire Rubber

“…The second factor is related to exothermic reactions, which occur during reclaiming/devulcanization of GTR. To sum up, the self-heating phenomenon allows a reduction of the energy consumption during rubber recycling [22], which has a beneficial effect on the economic and sustainable development of waste tire recycling technologies.…”