EFFECT OF HYGROTHERMAL TREATMENT ON RHEOLOGICAL AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF RECYCLED POLY(ETHYLENE TEREPHTHALATE)/RECYCLED POLYPROPYLENE BLENDS

摘要

Poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) is one of the most important fibers for industrial production due to its high performance, low cost, and recyclability. The amount of waste that arise from post-consumer PET especially in the beverage industry have made recycling of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) a beneficial effort in reducing environmental pollution. Studies of blends and composites using recycled PET have been carried out with several polymeric materials, like polyethylene and polystyrene. In this work, recycled poly(ethylene terephthalate)/recycled polypropylene (RPET/RPP) blends was subjected to injection molding and then subjected to hydrothermal treatment in water bath at below transition glass temperature to determine the amount of moisture absorption. As polypropylene tends to degrade at a faster rate than poly(ethylene terephthalate), the results show that defect of polypropylene effect the tensile strength and modulus of the RPET/RPP blends.