Creating Sustainable Composites from Pyrolyzed Burlap and Ocean-Recycled Plastics using FDM

Abstract

The study focuses on the mechanical performance of a blend of ocean-recycled high-density polyethylene (rHDPE) and polypropylene (rPP) and explores the effect of adding burlap biocarbon from post-industrial waste as a filler. This study aims to upcycle ocean-recycled plastic and post-industrial waste and to compare the conventional injection molding with 3D printing. The Taguchi-gray relational analysis was utilized to determine the preferred printing conditions for both the rHDPE–rPP blend and the rHDPE–rPP–biocarbon composite. The study found that the preferred printing conditions for the rHDPE–rPP blend were a raster angle of 0°, a printing speed of 900 mm/min, and a nozzle temperature of 215 °C, while the preferred printing conditions for the rHDPE–rPP–biocarbon composite were a raster angle of 0°, a printing speed of 1200 mm/min, and a nozzle temperature of 255 °C. The study also compared the mechanical properties of 3D printed and injection-molded samples, with the 3D printed rHDPE–rPP blend samples, demonstrating higher tensile and flexural moduli with a percent increase of 7 and 12%, respectively, compared to the injection-molded counterparts. However, no considerable difference in tensile and flexural modulus was observed between 3D printed and injection-molded samples of the rHDPE–rPP–biocarbon composite. Moreover, it was also found that the addition of biocarbon resulted in an enhancement in the tensile and flexural modulus of the optimized 3D printed specimen with an increase of 17 and 5%, respectively. However, both the 3D printed rHDPE–rPP blend and rHDPE–rPP–biocarbon composite exhibited a decrease in impact strength of 63 and 23%, respectively, compared to the injection-molded counterparts.