Synthesising graphene from plastic waste and its use with asphalt

Abstract

The global increase in the plastic waste has resulted in significant pollution increase which causes significant damage to the environment. There is an urgent need for waste management practices such as recycling to ensure sustainable development and decreasing the impact of plastic waste on the environment. The production of new materials such as graphene are associated with high cost, and there have been research efforts to develop cost effective alternative sources of graphite. considerable research has been carried out on investigating the application of homo polypropylene in asphalt construction. successful applications of this will ensure recycling and reduce waste footprint of plastic. The paper presents a proposed method of synthesising graphene from plastic waste and talc at 80 %, and 20 % of that after many experiments. Graphene was monitored at (002). (100). (004) peaks at 2 θ = 26.8°, 42°, with 53 successive physical tests conducted to determine the quality of the graphene produced. The experiments carried out resulted in a successful production of a 98 % pure material. The synthesised graphene was then combined with asphalt using different ratios of weight: 2 %, 6 %, 8 %, and 10 % to test the physical properties of the combination. The results were compared with no graphene usage, the findings validated the findings of similar studies which demonstrate at 6 % ration combination with graphene the asphalt provides better results than without graphene. Also, testing at alternative forces of 6.5 psi and 13 psi at temperatures of 25, 40 and 60, the results showed a noticeable improvement. All tests showed better results in creep and tensile strength. It is concluded that there is a proofed concept to follow this approach to recycle waste plastic in ample ways to reduce the footprint of waste.