Characterization of Recycled Polyethylene Terephthalate Powder for 3D Printing Feedstock

Abstract

This paper assessed the suitability of PET powder produced by crushing used plastic bottles as 3D printing feedstock. Characterization of the powder was done through determining its flow property, coefficient of friction, bulk density, flexural and tensile strengths and compared with those of ABS, PLA, PVA, Nylon and HDPE which are used conventionally 3D printing of plastic parts. Two grades of PET bottles were used in this study: grade one which is designated PET1 with intrinsic viscosity values ranging from 0.78-0.80 (used for water bottles) and grade two which is designated PET2 with intrinsic viscosity values ranging from 0.80-0.85 (used for carbonated drinks bottles). The results of the tests performed showed that PET1 has bulk density, coefficient of friction, flexural strength and tensile strength values of 0.16 g/m3, 0.43, 82.1 MPa and 63.4 MPa respectively while PET2 has bulk density, coefficient of friction, flexural strength and tensile strength values of 0.15 g/m3, 0.22, 82.7 MPa and 57.8 MPa respectively. The Experimental results show that both PET1 and PET2 have very good flow property, and are suitable for 3D printing. This study solves two major problems: plastic waste management and availability of locally produced 3D printing feedstock, which is currently the greatest challenge of 3D printing in Nigeria. Keywords— 3D printing feedstock, Characterization, Intrinsic viscosity, PET powder.

DMA Investigation of the Factors Influencing the Glass Transition in 3D Printed Specimens of Shape Memory Recycled PET

“…Among various modalities of PET recycling, the production of filament for 3D printing—also valorized in the case of other thermoplastics [ 10 , 11 ]—has gained increasing interest, especially after the start of its commercialization in 2015 [ 12 ]. Thus, comprehensive studies were performed to ascertain the suitability of recycled PET (R-PET) for the production of powders [ 13 ] and filaments for 3D printing [ 14 ]. It has been reported that printed parts with virgin and R-PET filaments had comparable mechanical properties [ 15 ], especially when they were obtained by fused filament fabrication [ 16 ].…”