Abstract
Abstract This article presents the assessment of bulk and in situ mechanical properties of rubber–wood–plastic composites (RubWPC) and their correlations, aiming to obtain a thorough understanding of mechanical behaviour of RubWPC, which is an essential prerequisite in realising their optimal design and applications. Dynamic mechanical analysis results showed that the composites treated with multiple coupling agents (combination of maleic anhydride polyethylene [MAPE] and bis(triethoxysilylpropyl)tetrasulfide and combination of MAPE and vinyltrimethoxysilane) exhibited greater storage modulus than both the untreated and single coupling agent treated composites owing to their superior interfacial bonding quality. The shift of relaxation peak and T g towards higher temperatures observed in the treated composites confirmed the enhancement of interfacial interaction and adhesion. Nanoindentation analysis suggested that the composite with optimised interface (MAPE and Si69 treated) possessed better nanomechanical property (elastic modulus) due to the resin penetration into cell lumens and vessels and the reaction between cell walls and coupling agents.
Highlights
The ever-increasing environmental concerns towards the global disposal of waste tyres has led to an unprecedented need to recycle and reuse the main component of the tyres, namely tyre rubber [1,2]
The recycled tyre rubber used in this research was supplied by J
The recycled high density polyethylene (HDPE) pellet with the melt flow index (MFI) of 0.6 g/10 min at 190°C and bulk density of 960 kg/m3 was obtained from JFC Plastics Ltd (UK)
Summary
The ever-increasing environmental concerns towards the global disposal of waste tyres has led to an unprecedented need to recycle and reuse the main component of the tyres, namely tyre rubber [1,2]. The incorporation of waste tyre rubber into thermoplastics to develop a class of polymer composites with both elastomeric and thermoplastic behaviour has gained a lot of attention and is becoming one of the most straightforward and preferred options to achieve the valorisation of waste tyres [3,4]. Cosnita et al investigated multifunctional, environmental-friendly composite materials fully based on wastes of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), rubber, high density polyethylene (HDPE), and wood, aiming for indoor and outdoor applications [5]. The work addressed the limited rubber-PET compatibility with the aid of HDPE, so as to obtain good mechanical and stability properties. Moni Ribeiro Filho et al developed hybrid composites with epoxy polymer, This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
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