Investigation the mechanical, rheological, and morphological properties of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene blends with different recycling number content

Abstract

In this study, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene polymer was exposed to 12 injection cycles to investigate the influence of recycling number on the mechanical, rheological, and morphological properties. Also, binary and ternary blends including different weight percentages and recycling number of virgin-recycled polymers were prepared. A slight decrement was found in the tensile strength values with recycling number. All blends including recycled polymer (binary or ternary) gave lower tensile strength values with respect to 100% virgin polymer. Strain at break value was decreased after twelve times recycling; however, no clear tendency was observed with the presence of different ratios of virgin polymer to recycled polymer. Impact strength of the polymer decreased with recycling number. There was relatively large drop in the third recycling, from 72kJ/m(2) to 38.5kJ/m(2); however, further recycling induced in a slower drop in the impact strength to 32.5kJ/m(2). All blends including recycled material gave lower impact strength values as compared to 100% virgin polymer. It was observed that the melt flow index values increased with the recycling number, a total of 26.53% after twelve times recycling. All blends containing recycled material showed higher melt flow index values as compared to 100% virgin polymer.