Mechanical Properties of Polypropylene/Recycled Rubber Blends

Mechanical properties of polypropylene filled with recycled rubber dusts obtained from the buffing process in sport shoe sole manufacture were investigated. The use of these dusts eliminates the need for the size reduction process which is usually employed in rubber recycling. Two different waxes, polypropylene wax and ethylene vinyl acetate wax, were used in the PP/rubber dust compound. Two different processes, extrusion and injection moulding, were used to study the influence of the blends on the properties. The waxes gave significant improvement in the shaping of the extrudate. It was found that the impact strength of the injection moulded samples were higher than the extruded samples and the virgin PP. The tensile properties (yield stress and modulus) were dependent on the amount of rubber dust addition. An increase in the rubber dust loading gave lower yield stress and modulus.