Assessment of the properties of PP composite with addition of recycled tire rubber

Abstract

Waste tire rubber was utilized to get novel PP (polypropylene) composite materials of satisfactory properties to suit various applications. Treatment of waste tire rubber particles was done by H2SO to enhance the adhesion at the interface between the waste tire rubber (WTR) particles and the PP matrix. This affects the properties of the resulting rubber particles composites (RPC). The optimum composition of the composites is selected by studying various WTR particles weight percentages of 5%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40% and 50% and by using different WTR particle sizes. The physical properties such as water absorption and mechanical properties such as compressive yield strength and hardness were studied for the RPC. The optimum composition of the RPC is selected to suit various applications. Also, dimensional stability of the RPC was determined. Investigations of the WTR particles surfaces were done using FTIR. Keywords: Rubber particles, PP, H2SO4, PP composites, FTIR