FIBER REINFORCED COMPOSITES WITH RECYCLEDPOLYSTYRENE ADDITIVES AND NATURAL FIBERS

摘要

The disposal of the large amount of polystyrene foam waste has prompted an environmentalrnproblem. The possibility for utilizing this polystyrene product waste to act as a low profilernadditive was investigated. Low-profile thermoplastic additives are primarily employed to limitrnthe volume shrinkage during curing of unsaturated polyester composites. A novel process hasrnbeen developed to recycle polystyrene foam by dissolving it in non-volatile soybean oil esters inrnplace of styrene. This substitution eliminates the environmentally unfriendly vapors emitted byrnstyrene without significantly jeopardizing the composite properties. The resin systems werernsystematically compared in terms of pertinent chemical and mechanical properties. Polyesterrnresin systems augmented with soy oil esters - polystyrene showed improved elongation than thernunmodified polyester resins, because the co-polymer is more flexible than the conventionalrnpolyester resin. Natural fiber-reinforced composites based on the low profile resin systems werernsuccessfully manufactured. Finally, mechanical and chemical properties were tested forrncomparison with virgin polyester resin.