Preparation of polybutylene terephthalate/artificial marble wastes composites with simultaneously enhanced thermal, crystallization, and impact properties by in situ polymerization

Abstract

The treatment of artificial marble wastes (AMWs) is a difficult aspect of the artificial marble industry and has enormous impacts on the environment. Herein, a series of polybutylene terephthalate (PBT)/AMWs composites were prepared by in situ polymerization. The effects of AMWs content (1–10 wt%) on the thermal stability, crystallization rate, and impact strength of the PBT/AMWs composites were investigated in detail. The results showed that the composites containing 10 wt% of AMWs exhibited the best performance. Due to the high thermal resistance and uniform distribution of the AMWs particles, the heat deflection temperature reached 67.40°C with optimal thermal stability. Additionally, under heterogeneous nucleation, the crystallization rate was also the highest, and impact strength reached 17.29 kJ/m2 due to the partial core-shell structure and hardened matrix effects of the AMWs particles.