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pps proceeding
Symposium: S14 - Special: Recycling and Sustainable Polymers
Oral Presentation
 
 

High efficiency value-added bulk recycling of polymers

Shriky Bana (1)*, Innes James Robert (1), Coates Phil (1), Adrian Kelly Adrian (1)

(1) University of Bradford - Bradford - UnitedKingdom

Keywords: Polymer Blends, Processing, Rheological Properties, Thermal Properties, Recycling, Raman, Rubber, Elastomers, Thermoplastic, Solid-state shear milling Over 300 million tonnes of plastic is produced annually, this is expected to double over the next 20 year and the majority of these valuable materials are expected to end in landfills. Solid-state shear milling (S3M) technology has been proven successful in breaking crosslinkings in a wide variety of polymers, enabling to reprocess hard to recycle, complicated multi-component materials. This study aims to produce high value products from shear milled waste via cost effective, low carbon emission and well controlled manufacturing routes. The application of high shear rates during S3M has effectively devulcanised the waste rubber and de-crosslinked polyethylene (XLPE) into a reusable form. In the current study, devulcanised waste rubber and de- crosslinked XLPE were converted to thermoplastic vulcanisate elastomer (TPV) by two processing methods; melt extrusion and two-roll milling. The samples were compared in terms of their energy consumption and final product properties. The resultant TPV properties were extensively investigated by rheological, thermal, mechanical and morphological methods to optimise the quality of the products. Experimental data demonstrate a good dispersion of the two phases in the recycled TPV and enhanced mechanical and thermal properties.