EFFECTS OF RECYCLING ON THE PROPERTIES OF GLASS FIBRE REINFORCED POLYPROPYLENE

Recycled polymers are considered low performance materials because their properties are expected to reduce drastically with recycling. The objective of the present study was to characterize 30 wt. % glass fibre reinforced polypropylene (GFRPP) recycled for four generations. Samples for tensile testing of virgin and four recycled generation of GFRPP were prepared by injection molding techniques and tested using Instron 20 KN. Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) was also carried out to study the thermal properties of recycled and virgin samples of glass fibre reinforced polypropylene. Results showed that the thermal properties especially the transition temperature of GFRPP was not affected at all by the recycling process. In contrast the tensile strength decreased as number of recycling generations of glass fibres reinforced polypropylene increased. This research work demonstrates that 100 % recycled GFRPP can be used effectively only for two recycle generations. However, some modifications/treatments are necessary for GFRPP to use it more efficiently for further recycles