Polymer waste materials as fillers in polymer mortars: experimental and finite elements simulation

Serious environmental problems are due to large amounts of polymer waste, which are mostly thrown into landfills. As we known, polymer composites has been used to produce a variety of products like acid tanks, manholes, drains, highway median barriers, and so forth. One option is to use waste polymers as aggregates in polymer composites. In this work, waste polymers (PET, polycarbonate and automotive tires), partially replaced silica sand in polyester based mortar. Waste particles (0.7–2.36 mm), in concentrations of 1, 2 and 3% by weight, were used. The polymer mortar specimens were subjected to compressive and flexural tests, and the elasticity modulus was calculated. In addition, mechanical values were calculated by Finite Element Method (FEM), and compared with experimental data. Surface morphology and degree of crystallinity of waste particles were analyzed by SEM and XRD techniques, respectively. The results show improvement on the mechanical strength (up to 20%) for polymer mortar with waste PET; but lower mechanical values when adding polycarbonate or tire particles, compared to control mortar. These mechanical results can be related to the crystallinity degree, because PET particles shown higher crystallinity than those for polycarbonate and tire particles. This work is an alternative to reduce environmental contamination through to use waste polymers as fillers in polymer mortars.