Influence of the type of thermoplastic recycled material on the rheological and mechanical properties of the plastic-based composites towards circular economy

Abstract

Technological progress is inevitably linked to the production of new machines, new materials and advanced technologies, as well as generation of post-industrial waste. Therefore, there is a need to reuse post-industrial waste including post-product thermoplastic materials towards reduction of environmental pollution with plastic-based waste. In our research, we focused on producing an effective coating on the metal surface to reduce the number of waste materials that are challenging to be reused that has a potential to be applied in a wide range of fields - from the furniture industry to the automotive and biological industry. We obtained a new material combining thermoplastic regranulate from post-industry waste with organic film and/or PUR lacquer (PA6/PP-organic coat-lacquer/lacquer composite) using IML and IMP technologies, achieving highly effective adhesion between the composite and the film/lacquer to maintain highly effective and uniform coverage of the substrate protecting the surface from the external conditions. Using IML technology, we eliminated operations associated with the traditional process, such as surface preparation after injection molding, painting of parts in the booth, and elimination of film application through hot-stamping, while using IMP technology, we reduced the cycle time from 20 minutes to 3 minutes compared to SMC technology - molding the material in a plate mold. In both technologies, we used regranulate thermoplastics and eliminated material waste, which has a negative impact on the environment. These technologies improve mechanical properties such as tensile strength, Charpy impact strength, lower part weight using organic sheet compared to steel parts, improved scratch resistance, reduced part failure rates by 20%, eliminated additional operations affecting part contamination after the injection process, and protected the environment from solvents in the painting process. In IML and IMP technology, we achieved adhesion between the composite and the film/paint, where we did not observe any peeling of the film on the coated surface it possible to use the proposed material in many sectors.

Publication
2nd International Conference on Advanced Materials for Bio-Related Applications