Development and Characterization of Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET)-cotton Natural Fiber-reinforced Composites from Waste Materials
Abstract
Unprecedented levels of production and consumption have caused a rapid exhaustion of the Earth’s virgin resources, which is coupled with a fast accumulation of contaminants in the form of solid waste, especially in landfills. Two significant landfill constituents come from textile waste and discarded plastic bottles. Since there is a finite amount of space that can be feasibly used for landfills, solutions that make use of these post-consumer products are imperative. This study presents one possible solution by using surface modifications of cotton fibers to produce a natural fiber-reinforced polymer composite (NFRPC) from post-consumer textile waste and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) water bottles as pseudo raw materials. This novel composite material in the form of a monofilament feedstock for 3D printing toughened the recycled PET (RPET) matrix. The study follows the processing of the NFRPC by hydrolyzing functionalizing fibers from white denim cloth (as a representation of bleached fibers) as well as fibers from post-consumer denim jeans that contain indigo-dye. Characterization techniques such as dynamic mechanical analysis, attenuated total reflectance, impact tests, melt flow index, and scanning electron microscopy were all preformed on the various NFRPC states to verify the efficiency of the functionalization process and interfacial adhesion.
Subject Area
Materials science
Recommended Citation
Carrete, Israel Alejandro, "Development and Characterization of Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET)-cotton Natural Fiber-reinforced Composites from Waste Materials" (2019). ETD Collection for University of Texas, El Paso. AAI13886541.
https://scholarworks.utep.edu/dissertations/AAI13886541