Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2014 Aug 18;7(8):5920-5933.
doi: 10.3390/ma7085920.

Structural and Mechanical Characterization of Sustainable Composites Based on Recycled and Stabilized Fly Ash

Stefano Besco  1 , Alberto Bosio  2 , Mariangela Brisotto  3 , Laura E Depero  4 , Alessandra Lorenzetti  5 , Elza Bontempi  6 , Renato Bonora  7 , Michele Modesti  8
Affiliations

Structural and Mechanical Characterization of Sustainable Composites Based on Recycled and Stabilized Fly Ash

Stefano Besco et al. Materials (Basel). .

Abstract

This paper reports the results on the use of an innovative inert, based on stabilized fly ash from municipal solid waste incineration as a filler for polypropylene. The starting material, which contains large quantities of leachable Pb and Zn, was stabilized by means of an innovative process using rice husk ash as a waste silica source, together with other fly ashes, such as coal fly ash and flue gas desulfurization residues. The use of all waste materials to obtain a new filler makes the proposed technology extremely sustainable and competitive. The new composites, obtained by using the stabilized material as a filler for polypropylene, were characterized and their mechanical properties were also investigated. A comparison with a traditional polypropylene and calcium carbonate based compound was also done. This research activity was realized in the frame of the COSMOS-RICE project, financed by the EU Commission.

Keywords: fly ash; melt compounding; polypropylene; rice husk ash; stabilization process.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Calculated residue for the composites obtained by varying filler and processing conditions, measured by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) at 800 °C (air) and considering pristine component values evaluated at the same temperature. PP-CR, Polypropylene-COSMOS-RICE; PP-C, Polypropylene-COSMOS; PP-CaCO3, Polypropylene-calcite.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Particle size distribution for rice husk silica based (CR) sample determined by laser diffraction.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Diffraction patterns collected from polypropylene (PP), PP-CaCO3 and PP-CR composites.
Figure 4
Figure 4
2D diffraction images collected from PP and PP-CR composites (varying CR content).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Parameters reported in Table 1 for PP-CR samples. The values are normalized with respect to the pristine PP.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis on cryofractured samples surfaces obtained with different fillers (30 wt% amount, 100 rpm).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Chaowasakoo T., Sombatsompop N. Mechanical and morphological properties of fly ash/epoxy composites using conventional thermal and microwave curing methods. Compos. Sci. Technol. 2007;67:2282–2291. doi: 10.1016/j.compscitech.2007.01.016. - DOI
    1. Srivastava V.K., Shembekar P.S. Tensile and fracture properties of epoxy resin filled with flyash particles. J. Mater. Sci. 1990;25:3513–3516. doi: 10.1007/BF00575379. - DOI
    1. Singla M., Chawla V. Mechanical properties of epoxy resin–fly ash composite. J. Miner. Mater. Charact. Eng. 2010;3:199–210.
    1. Ramakrishna H.V., Rai S.K. A Study on the mechanical and water absorption properties of granite powder/epoxy toughened with PMMA and fly ash/epoxy toughened with PMMA composites. J. Reinf. Plast. Compos. 2005;24:1809–1816. doi: 10.1177/0731684405052202. - DOI
    1. Ramakrishna H.V., Padma Priya S., Rai S.K. Effect of fly ash content on impact, compression, and water absorption properties of epoxy toughened with epoxy phenol cashew nut shell liquid-fly ash composites. J. Reinf. Plast. Compos. 2006;25:455–462. doi: 10.1177/0731684406056431. - DOI

LinkOut - more resources