Upscale recycling of nonwoven polypropylene waste using a novel blending method

Abstract

Waste management of the nonwoven polypropylene (PP) fabric has become an emerging issue due to its increased usage. This study presents the upscale recycling of PP nonwoven fabric scrap generated during medical‐grade disposable gown manufacturing. To prepare PP and carbon black (CB) nanocomposite, a two‐step novel melt blending process is used. A maximum density of 937 kg/m3, shore D hardness of 74.45, and highest improvement in UV degradation resistance with a carbonyl index of 0.40 is recorded at 2 wt% of the CB while melt flow index is the lowest at 0.5 wt% of the CB. The results of this study revealed the peak melting point (161.81°C), thermal degradation temperature (421°C), highest flexural strength (49.16 MPa), and Izod impact strength (6.76 kJ/m2) are at 0.50 wt% of CB loading. A morphological study indicated that the highest agglomeration of CB particles was found at 2 wt% CB. The results showed that the optimum value of CB in PP nanocomposite is 0.5 wt%, at which the majority of the properties are maximized. This research might pave the way for the recycling of nonwoven PP waste fabric and provide an alternative to the exciting virgin raw materials.

Influence of Adding Polypropylene(pp) Into Polyethylene(pe) on Mechanical Properties of Geocells

“…Rezekne, Latvia Proceedings of the 14 th International Scientific and Practical Conference. Volume 3,[214][215][216][217][218] The results, compared with other authors [20] - [22], are reliable and no deviations were observed in the regression analyses. They may be used and applied in engineering practice.…”

Effect of microstructure tuning by rapid heat cycle molding on the photodegradation behavior of isotactic polypropylene

“…It is well known that iPP is a semicrystalline multiphase polymer and its microstructures such as the crystallinity, crystal size, and crystal form, directly affect the mechanical properties of products 53 . Considering that its injection molded products have a typical skin‐core structure 54 and RHCM has a positive effect on the surface as mentioned, hardness is one of the most important mechanical properties affecting the application of iPP products 55 . As shown in Figure 9, comparing the changes of shore hardness (D scale) of CIM, RHCM60, and RHCM90 during photodegradation, it is found that the hardness of iPP samples increases with increasing mold temperature.…”

“…53 Considering that its injection molded products have a typical skin-core structure 54 and RHCM has a positive effect on the surface as mentioned, hardness is one of the most important mechanical properties affecting the application of iPP products. 55 As shown in Figure 9, comparing the changes of shore hardness (D scale) of CIM, RHCM60, and RHCM90 during photodegradation, it is found that the hardness of iPP samples increases with increasing mold temperature. Because the crystalline state of outermost layer of products plays a decisive role in hardness, as mentioned, RHCM changes the crystalline state of iPP.…”