Organoclay nanocomposites of post-industrial waste poly(butylene terephthalate) from automotive parts

Noe B Quispe; Elizabeth G Fernandes; Fernanda Zanata; Julio R Bartoli; Diego H S Souza; Edson N Ito

doi:10.1177/0734242X15600049

Organoclay nanocomposites of post-industrial waste poly(butylene terephthalate) from automotive parts

Waste Manag Res. 2015 Oct;33(10):908-18. doi: 10.1177/0734242X15600049. Epub 2015 Sep 4.

Authors

Noe B Quispe¹, Elizabeth G Fernandes², Fernanda Zanata¹, Julio R Bartoli³, Diego H S Souza⁴, Edson N Ito⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Materials Engineering and Bioprocess, State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, SP, Brazil.
² Department of Materials Engineering and Bioprocess, State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, SP, Brazil Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Polytechnic School of University of S. Paulo (USP), S. Paulo, SP, Brazil.
³ Department of Materials Engineering and Bioprocess, State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, SP, Brazil bartoli@feq.unicamp.br.
⁴ Institute of Macromolecules Prof. Eloisa B. Mano, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
⁵ Department of Materials Engineering, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Natal, RN, Brazil.

PMID: 26341637
DOI: 10.1177/0734242X15600049

Abstract

Polymeric nanocomposites are novel materials of huge interest owing to their favourable cost/performance ratio with low amount of nanofillers, improved thermal resistance, flame retardancy and mechanical properties in relation to their matrices. In this work, composites based on post-industrial waste or primary recycled poly(butylene terephthalate) and 5 wt.% of organic modified montmorillonite clays were melt compounded using a twin-screw extruder. A 2(2) factorial experimental design was used to study the compounding and processing variables: Organic modified montmorillonite with one or two hydrogenated tallow (initial basal spacing) and screw speed of the extruder. X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy suggest that a partial exfoliation of the organoclay in the recycled poly(butylene terephthalate) matrix was achieved for organic modified montmorillonite with lower initial basal spacing. On the other hand, formulations containing organic modified montmorillonite with higher initial basal spacing showed only intercalated structure. The recycled poly(butylene terephthalate)-organic modified montmorillonite nanocomposites did not drip flaming material during burning tests. Storage of dynamic-mechanical, tensile and flexural moduli of the recycled poly(butylene terephthalate)-organic modified montmorillonite were improved when compared with both virgin and recycled poly(butylene terephthalate)s, mainly for nanocomposites formulated at a lower initial basal spacing organoclay. This could be related to a better diffusion of polymer into organic modified montmorillonite layers compared with the higher initial basal spacing organoclay. The improvements on the physical properties of recycled poly(butylene terephthalate) showed the feasibility to add value to primary recycled engineering thermoplastics with a very small amount of organic modified montmorillonite.

Keywords: Primary recycling; flammability; mechanical properties; plastics scraps; poly(butylene terephthalate); polymeric nanocomposites; post-industrial waste.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Aluminum Silicates / analysis*
Automobiles*
Clay
Industrial Waste / analysis*
Nanocomposites / analysis*
Organic Chemicals / analysis
Polyesters / analysis*
Recycling

Substances

Aluminum Silicates
Industrial Waste
Organic Chemicals
Polyesters
poly(1,4-butylene terephthalate)
Clay