Fabrication and Mechanical Properties of Glass Fiber/Talc/CaCO₃ Filled Recycled PP Composites

Abstract

Until now, recycling studies brought to the agenda after the rapid increasing of plastic materials in every area and causing those plastics to environmental pollution after discarding them following the utilization. The purpose of recycling plastic waste is to minimize environmental pollution and to create of new resources. To perform the present study, Recycled Polypropylene Granules (RPP) belonging to Polypropylene (PP) will be used in most particularly in the automotive and in the packaging industry finding application area behind the Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE). To develop the several properties (physical and thermal) of RPP polymer and to get close to or greater value to the original PP features, different rates of micron-sized glass fibers, talc and CaCO₃ are added into the polymer. By recycling waste, demand for natural resources (such as oil, which is plastic’s raw materials) will decrease and rapid consumption of energy sources will be prevented while providing the protection of natural resources. Raw materials imports would be reduced due to the usage of recycled products. In this study, Recycled Polypropylene Granules (RPP) were obtained from companies and glass fiber/talc/CaCO₃ additive RPP granules in different ratios were produced with compounding extrusion process. These produced new composite pellets were produced in injection molding machine by means of designed mold to perform tensile and impact tests. In the thermal analysis, the melting temperature and crystallization rate were determined by DSC analysis; the thermal decomposition temperature was determined by TGA analysis. Micro structural examination was done using a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM).