Aproveitamento do copolímero ABS reciclado na moldagem de compósitos com fibras de juta e avaliação de propriedades

Abstract

In a technology-driven society, the increase of electrical and electronic equipment consumption has been a matter of concern in relation to its management, since the expectation is that the quantity of electrical and electronic waste (WEEE) produced worldwide will reach 49.8 million tonnes by 2018. The reprocessing of WEEE is an alternative to reduce the environmental impact caused by improper disposal. In this work, composites using recycled ABS (acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene) copolymer from WEEE were developed, reinforced with jute fiber fabrics. These materials were molded by compression molding in a hydraulic press in order to evaluate mechanical properties (flexural, tensile and impact strength), melt flow index, Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA/DTG) and fracture analysis by Scanning Electronic Microscopy (SEM) after mechanical tests. It was observed in the thermal analysis that adding jute fiber fabric caused a decrease in the thermal stability of the composites in relation to the matrix. By mechanical properties, it was verified that, by adding jute fiber fabrics, an increase in flexural and tensile strength occurred up to 13% and 9%, respectively. In addition, it was observed in the impact test for notched specimens that no chances occurred in the maximum strength value about 100 J/m, which is a positive result, since recycled materials tend to present lower impact strength values. Fracture analyzes of the materials demonstrated that the incorporation of the jute fiber fabrics improved the molding process and compaction of recycled ABS. Thus, the incorporation of jute fiber fabric in recycled ABS demonstrated satisfactory results, enabling the substitution of synthetic materials in composites. In addition, recycling of ABS promotes the volume reduction of this type of discarded polymer and its reinsertion in productive chain, aiming, for example, new products such as panels, furniture, shoe soles and automotive components.