Plastic Pipes Conference Association # 2023 Lake Buena Vista
Jie Wu, Yushan Hu, Todd Hogan
Recycling of plastic materials is key to demonstrating that these high value materials are much more than a waste stream and a key component of a sustainable future. The plastic pipe market effectively utilizes in-plant recycle systems where standards and codes allow processors to recapture the value of these high-performance plastics. Market segments such as corrugated pipe have extended the use of recycle to include postconsumer recycled (PCR) materials generated from collecting and reclaiming single use packaging.
One limitation of the use of PCR in high performance applications such as plastic pipe is that the materials collected are mixtures of incompatible polymer materials so that their blends typically exhibit poor properties. In this work, various non-reactive ethylene-based and propylene-based polyolefin elastomers were evaluated to compatibilize polyethylene (PE)/polypropylene (PP) blends. The effect of compatibilizer type and loading level on the mechanical properties of polymer blends, such as impact strength and flexural modulus were examined. Blend morphology was also analyzed with atomic force microscopy to establish structure and property relationships. The results showed that ethylene-based elastomers were more effective compatibilizers than propylene-based elastomers in improving stiffness and toughness balance of PE rich mixtures with PP. Another PCR stream includes PE mixed with ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH). For the compatibilization of PE/EVOH mixture, reactive maleic anhydride (MAH)-functionalized polyolefin resins were used. It was found that the mechanical properties of PE/EVOH blends, such as impact strength were significantly increased with the incorporation of MAH functionalized resins as a result of compatibilization. These studies suggest that the use of compatibilizers could transform mixed PCR into more valuable materials suitable for the appropriate plastic pipe applications.
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