Development and characterization of post-consumer rubber tire powder, high density polyethylene and ethylene-octene-1 copolymer ternary mixtures

Abstract

Scrap tires are considered a type of waste that litters landfills and the environment in general. Due to its chemically cross-linked structure, this material cannot be recycled by conventional processes because it does not melt. This work examined the production of polymeric composites using high density polyethylene (HDPE) filled with rubber tire powder (RTP). Ethylene-octene-1 copolymer (C2C8), an elastomeric material, was also added to improve the mechanical properties. Morphological analysis showed a good interfacial adhesion when C2C8 is added to the mixture. Raman spectroscopy coupled to optical microscopy revealed that the HDPE phase encapsulated the rubber tire particles. The mixtures containing C2C8 and RTP presented lower ultimate tensile strength and elastic modulus, but the impact strength of the binary and ternary mixtures was much higher than that of neat HDPE.