In recent years, the excess amount of disposable plastic wastes has gained a concern for the environment. Polypropylene (PP) and thermoplastic polyurethane (TTPU) are both materials that can be properly heated to reform and reuse due to the inherent characteristics of thermoplastic materials. However, the using efficacy may be compromised as the waste may be overheating and thus damaged during the reheating process. Additionally, PP and TTPU are incompatible and immiscible, for which a compatibilizer – polypropylene grafted maleic anhydride (MA) was used. Hence, this study goals to investigate the synergistic effect between these materials and also discuss the compatibilized effect caused by MA. The thermal degradation behavior, melting and crystallization behaviors, and surface morphology of PP/MA/TTPU blends are evaluated under appropriate considerations. In light of the thermal degradation, the presence of thermally stable PP improves the thermal stability of TTPU accordingly. From TGA and DTG results, the addition of MA is also helpful, and therefore the third thermal degradation temperature (T3max) is increased by 5 °C averagely when compare to neat PP. T1max and T3max of PP/MA/TTPU are postponed about 2 and 4 °C when TTPU content varied from 10 to 30 wt%. SEM images show that the employment of TTPU strengthens the toughness of the surface, and with the aid of 5 wt% MA, PP and TTPU exhibit greater interfacial compatibility and better adhesion. Above all, this study aims to investigate the feasibility of using thermoplastic based on the consideration of how to sustain the excess plastic products and develop the measure to melt-blend diverse thermoplastics for reclamation. The excessive plastics via an easy and convenient melt extrusion process is expected to be regarded as an eco-friendly method for green development on mother earth. © 2020 Elsevier Ltd
A study of reusability assessment and thermal behaviors for thermoplastic composite materials after melting process: Polypropylene/ thermoplastic polyurethane blends
