Composite material based on the polyethylene terephthalate polymer and modified fly ash filler

Abstract

The possibility of filling the recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET) with fly ash was studied to make a polymer composite material (PCM). It is shown that high adhesion between polymeric matrix and mineral filler is the key parameter to produce high performance PCM. For this purpose the acid-basic interaction as well as the thermodynamic work of adhesion between components of PCM were calculated. The technique of modifying fly ash filler with 5% concentration solution of sulfuric acid to increase acid-basic interaction has been elaborated. The resulting behavioral patterns are listed and compared to those of composites containing untreated fly ash particles.