Preparation and Evaluation of Electrical Properties of Plastic Composites Developed from Recycled Polystyrene and Local Clay

S. A. Abdulkareem,A. G. Adeniyi

doi:10.4314/njtd.v15i3.4

Abstract

In this study, the development of polymer composites was achieved from local clay material and waste polystyrene by cold pressing method, the preparation, electrical, and physical behaviours of clay-polystyrene composites are described. Polystyrene based resin (PBR) was produced from waste polystyrene by solvolysis in petroleum solvent and mixed with the 100μm clay particles at 10%, 20%, 30%, and 40% clay contents. Composite panels were prepared and tested for Physical and electrical properties. Metallurgical microscope was used for the microstructural studies. It was found that with the increase in clay content in PBR from 0 to 40%, there was a rise in density of the composite by about 11% with a simultaneous decrease in the void fraction or porosity from 5.3 % to 1.5%. It was also observed that the polymer composite with the filler loading of 40 wt% has the highest conductivity value of 1.88E-07 S/cm. The comparison of micrographs at 40x and 100x indicated a good dispersion and distribution of clay particles in the polystyrene matrix. The polymer composites produced can be adapted for applications where electrostatic dissipative materials are required.KEYWORDS: Electrical property, iron fillings, plastic composite, recycled polystyrene, clay particles.

Highlights

Conductive plastic composites are practicable by impregnation of fillers into the prepared plastic matrix
The addition of mineral fillers like clay, aluminium nitride (AlN), boron nitride (BN), silicon carbide (SiC) and beryllium oxide (BeO) to thermoplastic and thermosetting plastics has been demonstrated to be an effective way of improving the mechanical properties while being extensively used as conductive electronic materials (Awad et al, 2009)
This study demonstrated that waste polystyrene and local clay can be successfully used to fabricate electrically conductive polymer composites with moderate electrical and physical properties

Summary

Introduction

Conductive plastic composites are practicable by impregnation of fillers into the prepared plastic matrix. High filler loadings of the prepared plastic matrix are usually needed to generate network of conductive channels and achieve an enhanced electrical conductivity in the plastic composite material produced (Alam, 2008). These plastic materials can be filled with several inorganic and/or natural compounds in order to get the wide array of property enhancements such as increased stiffness and strength, greater dimensional stability etc. The addition of mineral fillers like clay, aluminium nitride (AlN), boron nitride (BN), silicon carbide (SiC) and beryllium oxide (BeO) to thermoplastic and thermosetting plastics has been demonstrated to be an effective way of improving the mechanical properties while being extensively used as conductive electronic materials (Awad et al, 2009)

Methods

Results

Conclusion