Abstract
This study aimed to characterize the effect of a glass powder additive on recycled polypropylene (rPP) materials from food packaging to be used as filaments in material extrusion (MEX) 3D printing applications. The composite filaments studied were rPP filaments with glass powder (GP) additive in the 2.5%, 5%, and 10% fractions. As a baseline, the filaments made of pure virgin PP and rPP without additive were used. The filament that has been successfully made is then printed into a tensile test specimen and an impact test to observe its mechanical properties. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) characterization was also carried out to determine the effect of chemical bonding and thermal characterization using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The results of FTIR characterization on the sample rPP + 10% do not show a typical peak shift of PP, but give rise to new peaks at wavenumbers of 1000 cm−1 (Si-O-Na), 890 cm−1 (Si-H) and 849 cm−1 (O-Si-O), which indicate the typical peaks of the glass constituent compounds. In the thermal characteristics, the addition of GP shows the improved stability of mass changes to heat and increases the melting temperature of rPP. The ultimate tensile strength and Young’s modulus for rPP-based specimens with 10% GP additive showed an increase of 38% and 42% compared to PP specimens. In addition to the improved mechanical strength, the addition of GP also reduces the bending deformation, which can be well controlled, and reduces curvature, which is a problem in semicrystalline polymer-based filaments.
Highlights
Since its discovery in 1954 and the start of commercial production by Montecatini in Ferrara in 1957, polypropylene (PP), a thermoplastic polymer, has become a successful commercial product [1,2]
The growing trends of additive manufacturing (AM) methods present an opportunity to recycle thermoplastics to be used as AM feedstocks
The recycled polypropylene (rPP) used in this study is processed from instant noodle food packaging made of Biaxially Oriented Polypropylene (BOPP) according to the specifications from the manufacturer PT
Summary
Since its discovery in 1954 and the start of commercial production by Montecatini in Ferrara in 1957, polypropylene (PP), a thermoplastic polymer, has become a successful commercial product [1,2]. Consumer demand for PP is very high, making it one of the most significant plastic commodities. The growing trends of additive manufacturing (AM) methods present an opportunity to recycle thermoplastics to be used as AM feedstocks. AM offers a potential solution when conventional manufacturing reaches its technological limits. These include a high degree of design freedom, lightweight design, functional integration, and rapid prototyping. These advantages have led to AM being adopted since its beginning in the aerospace and defense industry, especially the U.S military, for test parts in drones and satellites [5–7]
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