Study on thermal properties and crystallization behavior of electron beam irradiated ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA)/waste tyre dust (WTD) blends in the presence of polyethylene graft maleic anhydride (PEgMAH)

Abstract

The aim of this article to show the effects of the electron beam irradiation dose and presence of a compatibiliser on the thermal properties and crystallinity of EVA/WTD blends. The purpose of applying electron beam radiation with doses range 50 to 200 kGy and adding a compatibiliser was to enhance the compatibility of the studied blends and at the same time to investigate the possibility of using this technique in the process of recycling polymeric materials. As the compatibilisers, the polyethylene grafted maleic anhydride (PEgMAH) was utilized, they were added at the amounts of 1-5 phr respectively. The enhancement of thermal properties was accompanied by the following effects, discussed in this article: i) an irradiated EVA/WTD blend at 200kGy was found to improve the thermal properties of EVA, ii) the addition of PEgMAH in EVA/WTD blends and the subsequent irradiation allowed prevention of degradation mechanism. iii) the ΔHf and crystallinity percentage decrease at higher PEgMAH content. © 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.