Materials Today: Proceedings 27 (2020) 920–924

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Materials Today: Proceedings

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/matpr

An experimental study on recycled polypropylene and high-density

polyethylene and evaluation of their mechanical properties
S. Krishna Satya, P.S. Rama Sreekanth ⇑
School of Mechanical Engineering, VIT-AP University, Amaravati 522237, Andhra Pradesh, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Globally around 300 million tonnes of plastic are produced, of which, less than 10% is recycled.
Received 14 November 2019 Implementing recycled plastics in manufacturing i.e., by reusing them helps in the reduction of waste
Received in revised form 26 December 2019 plastic scrap eventually. In this paper, an experimental study on recycled Polypropylene (RPP) and recy-
Accepted 10 January 2020
cled High-Density Polyethylene (RHDPE) is carried out. The mechanical properties of the materials such
Available online 12 February 2020
as tensile strength, hardness, Young’s modulus, Impact strength, heat deflection temperature are evalu-
ated using ASTM standards and further, the results are compared with the virgin Polypropylene & High-
Keywords:
Density Polyethylene. Dynamic mechanical analysis is also performed on the samples to study the stor-
Recycled materials
Storage modulus
age modulus, loss modulus, and tan delta values. In the investigations performed, it is observed that the
Young’s modulus Recycled materials have a lesser tensile strength, impact resistance, hardness when compared to the vir-
Impact strength gin materials. However, RHDPE has shown fairly good results when compared to RPP in impact resistance
Dynamic mechanical analysis and tensile strength hence can be used in construction, military, and industrial applications. On the other
hand, RPP has shown good results in terms of Hardness and Young’s Modulus, hence can be utilized in
aircraft, automotive and engineering applications.
Ó 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the First International con-
ference on Advanced Lightweight Materials and Structures.

1. Introduction mosets, which are produced by addition and condensation poly-

merization. Thermoplastics can be heated and remolded for
Plastics are one of the most popular and vital materials used in unlimited times whereas, Thermosets solidifies to a permanent
the modern era due to their unique properties such as lightweight, shape and cannot be remolded. Thermoplastics can be easily man-
versatile, moisture resistant and relatively inexpensive. The advent ufactured with high precision and has distinct features like light-
of Polymer Nanocomposites has further enlarged the scope of plas- weight, high strength. Most common amongst the thermoplastics
tic utility. They can be easily molded into several products and can are Polypropylene (PP), High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE), Poly-
be used in varied applications. Plastics production has increased ethylene (PE), Low-density Polyethylene (LDPE).
rapidly over the years and this is termed to be the fastest increase Polypropylene was first polymerized in 1951 scientists named
for man-made material. Plastics are made from petroleum, which Paul Hogan and Robert Banks and later by Italian and German sci-
is a non-renewable source of energy. According to the United entists Natta and Rehn [2]. Polypropylene is non-polar in nature
Nations environment program, globally around 400 million tonnes which is similar to Polyethylene (PE) but more resistant to heat
of single-use plastic waste is produced every year but only 9% of it and harder than PE. Plastics can be naturally degraded into the
is recycled. As per the reports, in India, the average per- capita con- environment by various mechanisms such as photodegradation,
sumption of plastics is 11 Kgs and almost 60% of the plastic is recy- thermo-oxidative degradation, hydrolytic degradation, biodegra-
cled and the rest about 9400 tonnes is ended up in the landfills and dation [2]. But this degradation will take close to 50–60 years.
oceans affecting the groundwater reserves, flora, and fauna [1]. Hence, the Recycling procedure is a feasible alternative, since it
Plastics are generally categorized into thermoplastics and ther- helps in conserving natural resources. On the other hand, recycling
reduces the amount of plastic waste into landfills or incinerated.
Effective plastic waste management techniques are in demand
⇑ Corresponding author. especially in cities, as the unsegregated waste is high, due to the
E-mail address: [email protected] (P.S.R. Sreekanth). larger population. Plastic Pollution control boards of the various

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2020.01.259
2214-7853/Ó 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the First International conference on Advanced Lightweight Materials and Structures.
 S.K. Satya, P.S.R. Sreekanth / Materials Today: Proceedings 27 (2020) 920–924 921

states have adapted to the new slogan ‘Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and material or as a coating to avoid decrement in the mechanical
Recovery’ to diminish plastic waste. properties. Haeun Shin et.al., [16] have worked on the recycled
There are numerous techniques by which the plastics can be polymers blended with hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) fillers which
segregated. The basic method amongst all techniques is through have shown superior properties like higher thermal conductivity of
the flotation of the plastics based on the physical and chemical 14 W/mK. Nitesh et al., [17] have worked on reinforcing HDPE with
characteristics [3]. Mechanical recycling [4], Solvent extraction nanofillers and opined that HDPE is one of the favorable engineer-
[5], Chemical/feedstock method [6], Pyrolysis, etc., are some of ing polymers. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to find out the
the commonly used recycling techniques. Recycling of virgin plas- mechanical properties of RPP and RHDPE materials and dynamic
tics can be done 2–3 times as the material deteriorates due to ther- mechanical analysis is also performed. A comparative study is also
mal pressure and the life span gradually reduces [1]. According to carried out on both materials to evaluate their characteristics.
the reports, out of the major portion of municipal solid waste col-
lected across India, 8% is of plastic waste and 67% of the plastic 2. Materials and methods
waste is from HDPE and LDPE and 10% is from PP, 8.66% is from
the PET [7]. This data suggests that major waste belongs to 2.1. Materials
HDPE/PP materials. RPP finds numerous applications in day to
day life from household products to electronic products. Vanapalli Recycled Polypropylene (RPP) and Recycled High-Density Poly-
et. al., [8] stated that landfilling is the least preferable option and ethylene (RHDPE) are used as the major materials. They are pro-
mechanical recycling of polymers gives a good benefit for recycling cured from the local plastic recycler in the form of pellets. Post-
without a change in the molecular structure of the materials. On consumer PP (with resin code ‘5’) and HDPE (with resin code ‘2’)
the other hand, RPP acts as a good binding material, which has a are segregated from the solid waste collected from households,
lot of scope in the construction fields also. Reinforcing the RPP with industries, medical utilities, etc., and are thoroughly washed and
fillers like wood, glass fibers, other plastic blends further enhances sun-dried to remove any contamination/impurities. These are
the mechanical properties. In this context, material scientists have melted in the extruder and pelletized [18] to get RPP & RHDPE
done few studies on the recycled polymers to verify whether the pellets.
properties of recycled polymers are similar to those of virgin poly-
mers. Fernandes and Domingues [9] carried out the study on the 2.2. Methods
virgin and RPP. Two mixtures were tested, one with 50% of virgin
PP and 50% RPP, and others with 30% virgin PP and 70% RPP with 2.2.1. Processing and preparation of specimen
the purpose of using RPP in the automotive industry. They RPP, RHDPE specimens for tensile test, hardness, impact tests
observed that the mechanical properties such as tensile strength, are obtained through Injection Molding using suitable dies con-
elongation, etc., did not vary much but the impact resistance is forming to ASTM standards. Injection Molding machine used is
reduced to a larger extent. It is observed that with the increase from Deesha Impex InjKON, which is used by varying the temper-
in the RPP there is a gradual reduction in the impact strength. Also, atures from 220 °C to 250 °C. The injection parameters are shown
Raj et al., [10] have studied the tensile and impact strength of RPP in Table 1.
and virgin PP in various proportions. Bhattacharya et al., [11] Injection parameters such as injection pressure, injection time,
investigated the feasibility of using RPP in the injection molding packing time, etc., are considered to be critical since these param-
parameters based on the grey relational analysis. They found that eters decide the quality of the specimen. Injection defects like flow
5% of recycled material adulteration yields good results as that of lines, burn marks, vacuum voids, sink marks, Short shots, etc., are
100% Virgin materials. the major ones and to avoid them there must be proper monitoring
Mei et al., [12] have stated a ratio of 75 wt% Virgin PP and 25 wt on the injection pressure and mold temperature. The specimens in
% of RPP yields good flexural strength. Abo El-Khair [13] et al., the study are obtained with pre-checked injection parameters [19]
worked on RHDPE, with the increase in the recycled to the virgin as shown in Table 1 and the experiment is carried out on the
ratio of HDPE, the density, recovery percentage and impact defect-free specimens as shown in Fig. 1.
strength of the RHDPE increases while tensile strength remained
constant. Reis et al., [14] have analyzed the strain dependency of 2.2.2. Tensile tests
RHDPE and they proved that strain rate influences the tensile Tensile tests were performed at room temperature in accor-
strength, ductility, and modulus of elasticity. Rohan et al., [15] dance with ASTM 638 Type V standards. The study is carried on
have worked on the recycled mixed plastic and found out that as Tinius Olsen H10KL Universal tensile testing machine and the data
the temperature increases, there is an increase in the tensile is collected from Horizon software. The nominal dimensions of the
strength and this work suggested to use thermal stabilizer in the specimen are 63.5  9.53  3.18 mm with the gauge length

Table 1
Injection Molding parameters for RPP and RHDPE.

Material used Injection Parameters Zone 1 Zone 2 Zone 3 Zone 4

Recycled Polypropylene (RPP) Melting temperature (°C) 240 235 235 230
Injection pressure (bar) 90 100 120 120
Injection speed (rpm) 90 90 90 90
Cooling time (s) 5 8 8 10
Holding time (s) 5 8 8 10
Holding pressure (bar) 80 90 100 110
Recycled HDPE (RHDPE) Melting temperature (°C) 260 250 250 240
Injection pressure (bar) 90 100 120 120
Injection speed (rpm) 90 90 90 90
Cooling time (s) 8 10 10 12
Holding time (s) 8 8 8 15
Holding pressure (bar) 90 90 110 120
922 S.K. Satya, P.S.R. Sreekanth / Materials Today: Proceedings 27 (2020) 920–924

Fig. 1. (a) RPP specimen for Heat deflection test (b) RPP specimen for Tensile Test (c) RPP specimen for DMA test (d) RHDPE specimen for Heat deflection test (e) RHDPE
specimen for Tensile test.

9.53 mm. Five samples are tested as per material condition and the and impact strength of the materials are calculated and tabulated
average is reported. as shown in Table 2. The tensile strength achieved for RPP is
28.15 MPa, which has shown an increase of 26% when compared
2.2.3. Impact tests to 20.83 MPa [20]. In the case of RHDPE, the tensile strength
Impact tests were performed according to ASTM 256-02 in a obtained is 30.82 MPa, which has shown an increase of 16% when
controlled environment at room temperature at 280C. The impact compared to 26 MPa [21,22]. Similarly, Young’s Modulus of RPP
strength value is obtained by the average of the five rectangular and RHDPE have shown 34% and 31% improvement in the values
specimens of dimensions 124.5  14  5 mm and the tests were when compared to 630 MPa [12] and 520 MPa [13] respectively.
carried out on the Charpy impact testing machine (AIT-300) man- There is a variation in the tensile strength and Young’s modulus
ufactured by META test instruments, India. V-Notch of depth of the RPP and RHDPE due to the deterioration of the molecular
2.5 mm at 450 angles is obtained by the Notch cutter and a ham- chains, which may result in the brittleness of the material. Polymer
mer force of 2.71 J energy is applied in the test. degradation is propagated due to contaminants which are also a

2.2.4. Hardness
The hardness test is carried out on the specimen according to
ASTM E-384 standards with the help of a diamond tip indenter
on a Micro Vickers Hardness Tester (FMV1-MC-AT) manufactured
by Fine Spavy Associates & Engineers Pvt. Ltd. The indentation
hardness value is obtained by measuring the depth and area of
the indentation for 1Kgf application of load on the specimen.

2.2.5. Heat distortion temperature test

Heat distortion test helps to identify the temperature at which
the specimen deforms under the given load. This is also termed as
the Deflection Temperature under load (DTUL). Heat distortion
temperature test is performed on the sample as per ASTM 648
standards on Heat distortion temperature tester. The load applied
to the specimen during the process in 0.45 MPa, at the rate of
2 °C at 0.25 mm deflection of the specimen.

2.2.6. Dynamic mechanical analysis

Dynamic Mechanical Analysis determines the viscoelastic
behavior of polymers. Perkin Elmer DMA 8000 is used for the anal-
ysis. The test is carried out in a controlled environment from 30 °C Fig. 2. Stress-Strain diagram for RPP and RHDPE materials.
to 100 °C at a frequency of 1 Hz. Sample dimensions are
52  10  4 mm and the tension test is performed in the 3 Point
bending mode at the heating rate of 2 °C/min. Tan Delta, storage
modulus and loss modulus data values are plotted against
temperature. Table 2
Mechanical properties of RPP and RHDPE.

3. Results and discussion Specimen Tensile Strength Young’s Modulus Impact Strength
(MPa) (MPa) (kJ/m2)

The stress-strain diagram for RPP & RHDPE specimens is shown RPP 28.15 962 2.05
RHDPE 30.82 754.6 11.42
in Fig. 2. From the graphs, the tensile strength, young’s modulus (E)
 S.K. Satya, P.S.R. Sreekanth / Materials Today: Proceedings 27 (2020) 920–924 923

Fig. 3. (a) Storage modulus vs temperature plot of RPP (b) Loss modulus vs temperature plot of RPP (c) Tan delta vs temperature plot of RPP.

cause for a possible reduction in tensile strength and modulus of ness. While in the present work, hardness values for RPP show an
the material. increase of 21% when compared to 83.9 MPa whereas RHDPE has
The impact strength values for the RPP and RHDPE are consid- shown a decrease of 32% when compared to 49 MPa. In the work
ered as the average value of five specimens as shown in Table 2. carried out by Ovsik et al., [25], the microhardness of HDPE mate-
It is observed that the impact strength of PP is reduced by 52% than rials can be improved by Beta irradiation of dose 132 kGy on the
the value of 4.35 kJ/m2 [23] whereas RHDPE has a reduction of 40% surface of the tested specimen. Hence, surface treatment methods,
compared with the value of 19.18 J/cm2 [21]. This variation in the material blends or hybrid coatings may improve the hardness of
impact strength of the recycled materials is due to the effect of the materials to some extent which can be used in many
extreme temperatures and shear rates. It could also be due to pho- applications.
todegradation. If the toughness of the material is considered, Heat deflection temperature under load (DTUL) is useful in
RHDPE is a far better material than the RPP. Toughness in the recy- measuring the service temperature of the polymer, that is beyond
cled materials can be improved by the addition of virgin materials this temperature the material cannot be used in the structural
to the recycled materials which may solve the problem to some applications. In this experiment, the temperature is measured by
extent. applying 0.46 MPa load and the deflection temperature obtained
The hardness of the sample specifies the ability to resist the for RPP is 56 °C as shown in Table 3. In the case of RHDPE, the
deformation. The hardness values of RPP and RHDPE are shown deflection temperature obtained is 65 °C. While in the study car-
in Table 3. In general, hard materials are brittle in nature and have ried out by Ecaterina Matei [23], the deflection temperature for
a low resistance to impact and the same is observed in this study, RPP is obtained at 87 °C. This deviation in the temperatures can
RPP is harder than RHDPE and hence exhibited higher hardness be attributed to many factors like base resin, extrusion conditions,
values. Berdjane et al., [24] have worked on the RPP and RHDPE the morphology of the material and the presence of fillers. Higher
materials with polyolefins ternary blends and found out the hard- crystalline materials generally result in higher HDT’s while the
presence of plasticizers in the materials deteriorates the deflection
temperatures.
Table 3 Fig. 3(a)–(c) shows the response of RPP in Dynamic Mechanical
Hardness and heat deflection temperatures of the recycled materials.
Analysis and its viscoelastic properties. Fig. 3(a) explains how the
Specimen Hardness Heat deflection storage modulus (E’) values of the RPP changes with the tempera-
(MPa) temperature ture. Storage modulus determines the elastic response of material
(°C)
i.e., the energy stored by the material. The highest storage modulus
RPP 107 56 value obtained for RPP is 11 GPa and is observed at 32.5 °C whereas
RHDPE 33 66 the value obtained in work done by Stoian et al., [26] is 4.2 GPa.
924 S.K. Satya, P.S.R. Sreekanth / Materials Today: Proceedings 27 (2020) 920–924

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