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Fabrication of nonextruded recycled rubber–polyethylene composites
Author(s) -
Soleimani Majid,
Cree Duncan,
Olson Landon,
Tabil Lope G.,
Panigrahi Satya
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.49067
Subject(s) - composite material , materials science , ultimate tensile strength , natural rubber , polyethylene , composite number , molding (decorative) , fabrication , volume fraction , medicine , alternative medicine , pathology
This study was conducted to investigate the possibility of one‐stage molding process skipping compounding extrusion for the fabrication of cross‐linked polyethylene (PE)‐ground tire rubber (GTR) composites. The process resulted in a wide range of composites with various properties. Response surface methodology technique based on central composite design was employed with variables: polyethylene content (PE: % per polymer fraction), dicumyl peroxide (DC: % per polymer fraction), molding residence time (RT: min), and filler content (F: % per total mass). A quadratic model was able to significantly describe tensile strength, elongation at break (EB), and impact resistance/energy of the composites as a function of PE, DC, RT, and F. Tensile strength (TS) was positively affected by PE, DC, and RT; however, it was negatively affected by the filler content. Tensile EB and impact resistance of the composites were improved by DC and RT, while reduced by PE and filler increment. Composites with TS, ultimate elongation, and impact resistance of 11.5 MPa, 140%, 244 MJ/m 2 , respectively, were obtained under optimized conditions. The nonextrusion molding process is recommended for the fabrication of PE‐GTR composites due to the higher stiffness/tensile modulus and a slightly lower strength of nonextruded composites compared to the extruded composites.