Recycling and mechanical characterization of polymer blends present in printers

Abstract

More and more electronic devices are being produced and most of them are disposed of improperly. In addition, as they contain heavy metals and toxic substances in their composition, the environmental impact increases. This work aims to study the recycling of polymers present in e-waste through the mechanical characterization of polymer blends produced with the main polymers present in printers. To do so, printers were dismounted, the material of the components was classified, and the main polymers were processed. The sample consisted of 20 printers, from which HIPS-90%/PS-10%, HIPS-90%/ ABS-10% and HIPS-100%, blends were processed by extrusion and injection of specimens with tensile test geometry. The tensile strength was 39.0 MPa for HIPS/ABS, and 37.5 MPa for HIPS/PS. Despite having slightly different mechanical properties, probably due to possible variations in their chemical composition, the formulations have good quality and potential for use in new products such as hangers, organizing boxes, soles and, watering cans.