TITLE:Fundamental Studies for the Utilization of Carpet Waste CO-PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS: M. Polk, S. Kumar, and Y. Wang, Georgia Tech CODE: G92C3 RELEVANCE TO NTC GOALS

One of the NTC goals is to strengthen the nations textile and educational efforts by uniting diverse experts and resources in unique collaborative efforts. The union of a polymer chemist, a mechanical engineer (with a textile engineering undergraduate background),a polymer physicist, and a number of researchers in the textile and processing industries (e.g. Crown America, Reichhold, Shaw Industries, and Haake) to work toward the solution to an important textile waste problem is indeed an example of such a collaborative effort. Another NTC goal is the development of new materials and improved manufacturing processes.The fabrication of carpet waste fiber reinforced concrete is an excellent example of the development of new materials with potentially important properties. The extrusion of mixtures of compatibilized polypropylene/nylon involves not only the development of new materials but also the development of innovative processing techniques with the cooperation of process engineers from industry. Our interactions with industrial companies will facilitate utilization of the developed technologies. Also we are preparing publications of our results and a lecture will be presented describing our work at the Dalton Recycling Conference in September. RESEARCH SIGNIFICANCE The annual fiber consumption of the U.S. carpet industry is approximately 2.4 billion lbs. The mos