STUDI PERBANDINGAN SIFAT MEKANIK POLYPROPYLENE MURNI DAN DAUR ULANG

Abstract

Comparative Studies on Mechanical Properties of As-received and Recycled Polypropylenes Characteristic of Pure and Recycled Polypropylene. In this study, the mechanical properties and the fracture areas of as-received, recycled, and commercial recycled Polypropylenes (PPs) used for cloth hanger materials were compared. Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) test results showed that recycling process did not cause a significant change to the material’s melting point, which stayed in a range of 160-163 o C. Meanwhile, Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) test results showed that the commercial recycled PPs contained of polyethylene (PE), which was not found in the asreceived and recycled PPs. Tensile and hardness tests demonstrated that there were no significant differences between the as-received and recycled PPs. In contrast, tensile test results of the commercial recycled PPs showed that the tensile strength, Young modulus and strain-at-break were lower than those of the as-received PPs by 22.1%, 8.1% and 65.7% respectively. The hardness test results of the commercial recycled PPs showed that the recycling process had a little effect on the material’s hardness. These facts were supported by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) observation on the surface that the contour of the commercial recycled PPs was relatively flatter and had smaller grain size than those of the as-received PPs. This indicated that the commercial recycled PPs were more brittle compared to the recycled PPs. To conclude, the recycled PPs have similar properties to the as-received PPs so that recycled PPs are suitable to be applied as cloth hanger application.