Abstract
The production of consumption goods made of elastomer generates large amounts of vulcanized residues. The final proper environmental disposal of this material is a serious problem, which involves high costs and a possible waste of a material with high added value. The recycling of elastomers is a very important alternative since it is related directly to the protection of the environment, energy conservation, and sustainability. An option for companies that produce elastomeric residues is their incorporation in the formulations by producing polymeric blends. Thus, this work aims to prepare polymeric blends composed of ethylene-propylene diene monomer rubber (EPDM) and raw EPDM/EPDM residue (EPDM-r) in different concentrations, when the residue is ground at room temperature. The morphology of the residue, vulcanization characteristics, mechanical properties, and morphology of the blends were analyzed, showing promising results that point to the feasibility of using EPDM-r in the production of polymeric blends and as a possible solution to the problem of the final disposal of solid residues.
Highlights
Creating an eco-friendlier product, environmental issues should be dealt with in the early stage of production, during the conception and design phase, by using recycled secondary raw materials, which have lengthened useful lives and would be able to be recycled once they have been discarded [1]
The particle size distribution of ethylene-propylene diene monomer rubber (EPDM)-r showed that approximately 47% of the ethylene-propylene diene monomer rubber residue (EPDM-r) was retained on 35 and 48 mesh sieves, which demonstrated that the residue used consists mostly of 0.43 to
Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) imaging indicated the irregular shape and large surface roughness of the ground particles, which made them favorable for incorporation into the production of polymeric blends composed of raw EPDM/EPDM-r in different concentrations
Summary
Creating an eco-friendlier product, environmental issues should be dealt with in the early stage of production, during the conception and design phase, by using recycled secondary raw materials, which have lengthened useful lives and would be able to be recycled once they have been discarded [1]. The recycling of materials, especially polymeric materials, should considered due to the limited resources that human beings face nowadays. The use of recycled materials in new applications is a sustainable action, as it saves raw materials, often polymers derived from petroleum, which are finite. The use of waste in other applications helps in the solution of the big global problem of the final disposal of solid residues. Recycling is considered a category of green chemistry, i.e., the use of renewable or recycled sources of raw material, and is a source of income for many families around the world [1,2], especially those facing an economic crisis
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