Preparation of a Composite Plate Using Nonmetallic Materials Powder from the Waste Printed Circuit Boards

Abstract

With the production of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) being one of the fastest growing markets in the world, the steep increasing amount of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) has triggered off a serious environmental crisis. A composite plate produced by using nonmetallic materials of pulverized waste printed circuit boards(PCBs) obtained after air classification as filler was prepared. The main mechanical properties of composite plate such as tensile strength, bending and impact strength were compared according to different filler particle size, dosage, and modifier and the inner structure of the composite plate was investigated by fractography study. The results indicated that using polypropylene S700 as the base resin and maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene (MAH-g-PP) as a modifier, the mechanical properties of composite plate were excellent when non-metallic materials with particle size from 0.125 to 0.3mm adding amount was 20 wt%. This technique of recycling waste PCBs offers a new way for the improvement of recovery and treatment system of WEEE and possesses wide application prospects.