Recycling of thermoplastic blends

Exposure time (hours) Pure HDPE PET/HDPE conventional composite PET/HDPE MRCs 

The thermal stability of pure HDPE, PET/HDPE conventional composite and MRC with different exposure times was measured by means of the VST data listed in Table 12.4. The addition of PET leads to an increase in VST due to the rigidity of the PET phase. Moreover, the VST of PET/HDPE MRCs is much higher than that of PET/HDPE conventional composite. In particular , after 360 h exposure, it is 92,7°C for MRCs, but 88.9°C for conventional composite. This is associated with the formation of the three-dimensional PET microfibrils network, which is beneficial for improving the thermal deformation resistance of the HDPE matrix, thus enhancing the VST of PET/HDPE MRCs. On extending the exposure time, the VST of PET/HDPE MRCs increases, while it decreases for pure HDPE and PET/HDPE conventional composite. These results indicate that the application of MRCs concept has promising potential to recycle thermoplastic polymers. 

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