Thermo-mechanical variability of post-industrial and post-consumer recyclate PC-ABS

• Main Authors: Eliott Orzan, Ratchawit Janewithayapun, Renaud Gutkin, Giada Lo Re, Kai Kallio
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2021-07-01
• Series: Polymer Testing
• Subjects: Recycled; Polymer; PC-ABS; Mechanical properties; Thermal properties; Variation
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0142941821001665

The aim of this work is to investigate the performance variability of post-industrial (PIR) and post-consumer recycled (PCR) polycarbonate acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (PC-ABS). In addition, necessary testing methodology for understanding polymer variation in recycled polymers are established. The thermal expansion behaviour of all tested material were found to be similar and FT-IR testing revealed no conclusive evidence of oxidative degradation. Both PIR and PCR exhibited similar levels of variation in mechanical properties compared with prime samples, with the exception of elongation at break and quasi-static impact behaviour. In these two tests, prime polymers showed lower variation and superior performance to both recycled polymers. The presence of defects and changes in molecular weight were determined to be leading causes of the reduced deformability. Our work contributes by identifying key areas where recycled PC-ABS show good potential as replacements for neat PC-ABS. Furthermore, the work demonstrates methods for material testing against performance criteria to pave way for effective replacement of neat PC-ABS with its recycled counterparts.