Mechanical Properties of Recycled Polymer Composites Made from Side-Stream Materials from Different Industries

Abstract

This study examines the mechanical properties of thermoplastic polymer composites manufactured by utilizing different side-stream materials as fillers. Two composites were manufactured from side-stream materials from the construction industry, two were manufactured from side-stream materials from the paper industry, and one was manufactured from side-stream materials from a coating factory. The matrix polymer used in the composites originated from recycling facility. The side-stream materials were used as fillers. One composite was manufactured as a reference by using wood-fiber as the filler. The tensile properties and impact strength were tested. The materials were also observed with a scanning electron microscope. Compared to the reference material, tensile strength and modulus decreased in all cases except for the sludge from the paper industry. The sludge also improved the impact strength remarkably, as the impact strength with the stone wool and stone dust from the construction industry remained the same, while the values were weakened for the others. Scanning electron microscope images showed that powder coating waste from the coating factory increased porosity and, thus, decreased the density of the material.

Sustainable Innovation: Fabrication and Characterization of Mycelium-Based Green Composites for Modern Interior Materials Using Agro-Industrial Wastes and Different Species of Fungi

“…Yet, the impact strength levels obtained in this study align with previously reported values ranging between 0.21-2.70 kJ/m 2 [16]. Importantly, these values fall within the range observed for many traditional materials, particularly foam-based (0.001-5 kJ/m 2 ) and paper-based (2-12 kJ/m 2 ) materials [30,66,[75][76][77]. This underscores the significant potential of the MBC materials for applications in modern interior elements.…”

“…– is not reported, < is less than, and NB is non-biodegradable during 30 years. * [ 19 , 22 , 24 , 29 , 42 , 55 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 68 , 75 , 76 , 77 , 83 , 89 , 90 , 91 , 92 , 93 , 94 , 95 , 96 , 97 , 98 , 99 , 100 , 101 , 102 , 103 , 104 , 105 , 106 , 107 , 108 , 109 , 110 , 111 , 112 , 113 , 114 , 115 , 116 , 117 , 118 , 119 , 120 , 121 , 122 , 123 ].…”

“…-is not reported, < is less than, and NB is non-biodegradable during 30 years. *[19,22,24,29,42,55,[58][59][60][61]68,[75][76][77]83,.…”

Improving the Physical and Mechanical Properties of Mycelium-Based Green Composites Using Paper Waste

“…When compared to the MBCs developed from prior research, it was found that most of the MBCs obtained in this study had increased impact resistance compared to previously reported MBCs [ 28 ]. Additionally, it was discovered that the obtained MBCs exhibited a similar impact resistance to wood particle boards (1–3.5 kJ/m 2 ) [ 85 ] and paperboards (2–4 kJ/m 2 ) [ 86 ], and also had a stronger impact resistance than many types of synthetic foam, like polyimide, polystyrene, polyurethane, phenolic formaldehyde resin foam, and polypropylene foam, with reported values of just around 0.1–1.63 kJ/m 2 [ 28 ].…”

“…Addressing challenges and embracing future perspectives can lead to the creation of environmentally friendly, high-performance materials that can replace traditional options in home decorative items or non-load-bearing construction materials along with packaging applications (Figure 7A,B). "-" = not reported [50,52,57,58,74,85,86,[90][91][92][93][94].…”