Production of Value-Added Composites from Aluminum–Plastic Package Waste via Solid-State Shear Milling Process

Abstract

Aluminum–plastic multilayer films have been widely used in the packaging industry, but the recycling of such a material is a great challenging task. Herein, we reported a facile route to produce value-added composites with high thermal conductivity and high electrical insulation from aluminum–plastic package waste (APPW) for the first time. Briefly, solid-state shear milling (S3M) technology was applied to prepare ultrafine APPW powder and exfoliate expandable graphite (EG) into graphite nanoplatelets (GNPs) with a lateral dimension of 1–5 μm which constructed the conductive network. For the blocking of electron transfer through the aluminum/GNPs network in composites, an in situ oxidation process was employed for aluminum flakes to form a nano-Al2O3 electronic insulation layer around the aluminum flakes, whereas phonons can transport through this barrier layer easily. As a result, the APPW/GNPs composites exhibit an excellent balance of thermal conductivity and electrical insulation, well above all reported data to date on graphite or graphene/polymer composites, with a thermal conductivity of 1.7 W/(m K) and electrical conductivity of 10–10 S/cm. Furthermore, enhanced mechanical strength and stiffness are achieved in APPW/GNPs composites. Such materials could have potential applications in the electronic industry and turn an environmental pollutant into a valuable resource.

Thermal Performances of UHMWPE/BN Composites Obtained from Different Blending Methods

“…During the MM process, the shearing action leads to a certain decrease in the relative molecular mass of UHMWPE, but also promotes the increase e e ective thermal conductivities of two-phase polymeric composites have been predicted by many researchers via proposing theoretical and empirical models. Hereon, Agari's semi-empirical model [41][42][43][44][45] can t better results than other models. e logarithmic equation of Agari is shown as follows:…”

Eco‐friendly polymer composites: A review of suitable methods for waste management

“…The development of composites that exhibit thermal and electrical insulation properties became an interesting alternative to reuse residues, as reported by Yang and co‐workers. [ 149 ] Authors studied composites of graphite nanoplatelets and aluminum plastic package waste that presented 29 MPa of tensile strength for 35 vol% of graphite, as well as 1.7 W/m K of thermal conductivity and 10 −10 S/cm of electrical conductivity.…”

“…The development of composites that exhibit thermal and electrical insulation properties became an interesting alternative to reuse residues, as reported by Yang and coworkers. [149] Authors studied composites of graphite nanoplatelets and aluminum plastic package waste that presented 29 MPa of tensile strength for 35 vol% of graphite, as well as 1.7 W/m K of thermal conductivity and 10 −10 S/cm of electrical conductivity. Furthermore, Yang [150] has also demonstrated that the use of expanded graphite into composites with plastic package waste allowed it to have isotropic thermal conductivity and efficient electromagnetic interference shielding effectiveness.…”

Fabrication of Morphologically Controlled Composites with High Thermal Conductivity and Dielectric Performance from Aluminum Nanoflake and Recycled Plastic Package

“…From the engineering application point of view, both nanosized noble metal and graphene faced some bottlenecks including complex preparation process and high cost. On the other hand, little attention has been focused on the use of cheap metal filler with a high aspect ratio and a high thermal conductivity (e.g., aluminum flake, 240 W/mK) to resolve this problem, although the surface self-passivation nature of aluminum (Al) may have the potential to prepare insulating thermal conductivity composite.…”

“…The desired composite with a continuous insulating thermal conductive network was then prepared by powder mixing and thermal molding. First, considering the environmental sustainability, a flaky polymer powder was prepared from multilayer plastic package waste (MPW) through solid-state shear milling (S3M) technology. ,, Afterward, oxidized Al nanoflake is coated on the surface of the flaky MPW particles during powder mixing, then continuous filler network is fabricated by following compression molding of MPW paticles. This oxidized Al network can act as a thermal conductive pathway for heat transfer and maintained electrical insulation due to the Al 2 O 3 layer.…”