1 research outputs found
Profitable Mass-Production of Acid-Modified Recovered Resins for Value-Added Mechanical Recycling as a Compatibilizer for Composites
To realize upgrade recycling of commodity-type
polyolefin resins,
acid modification with maleic anhydride (MAH) and organic peroxide
was applied to polypropylene (PP)-rich commercial recovered resins
provided by different manufacturers. Modification conditions were
established in advance to achieve high MAH grafting level as well
as thermal fluidity using a laboratory scale batch kneader. Mass production
prototyping with a view of productivity of 100 kg/h was carried out
using an anisotropic twin-screw extruder. Transmission electron microscopy
demonstrated that different domain structures of the original recovered
resins were homogenized by the acid modification process. To evaluate
the performance of the obtained acid-modified recovered resins as
a compatibilizer, wood/plastic composite (WPC) compounds were prepared
by kneading together with wood flour and PP and examined for their
mechanical properties. As a result, the bending and impact strengths
improved 1.5 times and the tensile strength increased 1.3 times in
comparison with those of the composites containing no compatibilizer.
We also conducted in 1-t/day mass production prototyping of the WPC
compounds using an existing commercial production facility. By estimating
the manufacturing costs of the acid-modified recovered resins, the
profitability of the production was confirmed