RECYCLING PET BOTTLES FOR ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING: A METHOD FOR 3D PRINTER FILAMENT PRODUCTION
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.4314/njt.v43i4.8Keywords:
Recycled, 3D printer, Filament, Polyethylene terephthalate, Ethylene glycolAbstract
Relevant technologies require reliable filaments from virgin materials and for exploration of waste PET bottles which simultaneously reduces environmental pollution associated with them. Desirable size, mechanical, chemical, thermal and physical properties of filaments are the significant determinants of their (filaments) respective applications and quality of products when in use on 3D printers. In this current work, an existing single screw extruder is modified to produce contaminant-free filament at various diameter from recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) for 3D printers. Flow rate test and tensile test were conducted to determine the mechanical properties of the filaments The V-PET, R-PET and R-PETG samples were fabricated with a gauge length of 50mm, and a tensile test was performed on each specimen. A weight proportion method was used to add an additive to the recyclable waste which yielded a good result in the by-product mechanical properties with a tensile strength up to 42MPa. A weight ratio of 1:4 (EG:V-PET) resulted in the least melting temperature with the least extrusion time in the case of V-PET. Increasing the reaction temperature in R-PET leads to an increase in melting time that results in an increase in total extrusion time. An experiment conducted in this study found that the extrusion time required for R-PET was reduced from 120 seconds to 80 seconds at 75% conversion rate.
References
[1] Katarzyna, M.; Dawid S.; and Grzegorz. “3D printing filament as a second life of waste plastics”. Department of Advanced Material Technologies, Environmental Science and Pollution Research, Faculty of Chemistry, Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Wrocław, Poland. Vol. 28: pp 12321 – 12333 (2021)
[2] Alias, S.; Aziz H .; and Hung, Y. “Recovery of plastic waste. In: Barlaz M, ed. Solid Waste Engineering and Management”. Handbook of Environmental Engineering. Vol 24. New York, NY: Humana Press; pp1-28. (2022)
[3] Mikula, K.; Skrzypczak, D.; Izydorczyk, G.; Warchol, J.; Moustakas, K.; Chojnacka, K.; and Witek-Krowlak, A. “3D printing filament as a second life of waste plastics, Department ofAdvanced Material Technologies”, Faculty of Chemistry, Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Wrocław, Poland, Environmental Science and Pollution Research, Vol. 28: pp 12321–12333. (2021)
[4] Jankauskaite, V. and Lygaitis, R. “Polyethylene Terephthalate Waste Recycling and Applicat-ion Possibilities” a Review, Faculty of Design and Technologies, Kaunas University of Technology, Student 56, LT-51424 Kaunas, Lithuania, Materials Science (Medžiagotyra). Vol. 14: pp119-125. (2008)
[5] Ahmad, A. F; Razali, A. R; and Razelan, S. M. Utilization of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) in asphalt pavement: A review, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Malaysia Pahang. Materials Science and Engineering doi:10.1088/1757-899X/203/1/012004 IOP publication: pp3-8. (2017)
[6] Paszun, D. and Spychaj, T. “Chemical Recycling of Poly(ethylene terephthalate), Polymer” Institute, Technical University of Szczecin, ul. Pulaskiego 10, 70-322 Szczecin, Poland. Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 36: pp1374-1379. (1997)
[7] Giulia, A.; Valentina B.; Bartolomeo, P.; Brunetto, M.; and Vito Guido, L. “Comparative study of mechanical characteristics of recycled PET fibres for automobile seat cover application”. Journal of Industrial Textile. University of Torino, Italy. Vol. 48(6) pp992–1008. (2019)
[8] Achilias, S;. Roupakias, C.; Megalokonomos, P.; Lappas, A.; and Antonakou, E.; “Chemical recycling of plastic wastes made from polyethylene (LDPE and HDPE) and polypropylene (PP)”. Journal of Hazardous Materials. Thessaloniki, Greece 149 pp536–542 (2007)
[9] Gueke B. “Dossier-plastic recycling”. Food Packaging Forum. 2014. doi:10.5281/zenodo.3 3521 nd”
[10] Agnieszka Kijo-Kleczkowska and Adam Gnatowski. “Recycling of PlasticWaste, with Particular Emphasis on Thermal Methods: Review”, Energies. Department of Thermal Machinery, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Computer Science, Czestochowa Univers-ity of Technology, pp42-201 Czestochowa, Poland. (2022).
[11] Cheng-Ho Chen and Chang-Young Chen. “Studies of glycolysis of poly(ethylene terephthalate) recycled from postconsumer soft-drink bottles. II. Factorial experimental design”. Journal of Applied Polymer Science, 80(7):pp956-962. (2021).
[12] Fauza, A.; Qalbina, F.; Nurdin, H.; and Refdinal. “The influence of processing temperature on the mechanical properties of recycled PET”. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universi-tas Negeri Padang, 25171 Padang Indonesia, Vol. 6, No. 1, pp. 21-28, 21-26. (2023).
[13] Cardona, C.;Curdes, A.; Isaacs, A.; “Effects of filament diameter tolerances in fused filament fabrication”. Journal of Undergraduate Resea-rch. 2016:pp22-28.
[14] Eboh, F.; Osideko, O.; and Onitiri, M. “Fabrication of Extrudate Filaments from Waste Polyethylene Terephthalate Plastics for 3D Printers”. Faculty of Engineering, University of Lagos Nigeria. FUOYE Journal of Engineering and Technology (FUOYEJET), Volume 6, Issue 2:pp79-80. (2021).
[15] Shaqour, B.; Abuablah, M.; Juaidi, A. and Abdel- Fattah, S. “Gaining a better understa-nding of the extrusion process in fused filament fabrication in 3D printing”, The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Techno-logy. 114:1279–12912016: 1280-1287. (2021).
[16] Valentina, V.; Maria. S..; Alfonso M.; Giovanni A.; and Roberto P. “Characterization of Recycled/Virgin Polyethylene Terephthalate Composite Reinforced with Glass Fiber for Automotive Applications”. Journal of Compo-site Science. Department of Industrial Engineering, Italy:pp 6,59. (2022)
[17] Bedawi, N and Fadlalla, I. “Management of PET plastic bottles waste through recycling in Khartoum State, Sudan”. Engineering Research and Industrial Technology Council. ;8(1):pp106-114. (2010).
[18] Altınkaynak, A; Gupta, M; Spalding, M.; and Crabtree, S. “Melting in a Single Screw Extruder: Experiments and 3D Finite Element Simulations”. International Polymer Proces-sing Journal of the Polymer Processing Society. pp182-185. DOI: 10.3139/217.2419. (2011).
[19] Daniel, F.; Solveig, H.; and Johnny, K.“3D Printable Filaments Made of Biobased Polyethylene Biocomposites”. Polymers 2018, 10, 314; doi:10.3390/polym10030314.
[20] Gabrielle, R.; Wesley, L.; and Ruth, M. “Titanate Nanotubes as New Nanostrutured Catalyst for Depolymerization of PET by Glycolysis Reaction”, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul. Materials Research. 20 (Suppl. 2): 2017; pp588-595.
[21] Socrate, C.; Vosa, R “Continuous Process for the Recovery ofTerephthalic Acid from Waste or Used Polyalkylene Tereph-thalate Polymers”. Eur. Patent 662 466, CA 123: 257959u., 1995.
[22] Park, S. H.; and Kim, S. H. “Poly (ethylene terephthalate) recycling for high value added textiles”, Fashion and Textiles 1:1. 2014.
[23] Fauza, A.; Qalbina, F.; Nurdin H. “The influence of processing temperature on
the mechanical properties of recycled PET fibers”. Teknomekanik, Vol. 6, no. 1, pp21-28, 2023.
[24] Saidi, M.; Wahit, M.;,Hassan, A.; and Lai, L. “Thermal, dynamic mechanical analysis and mechanical properties of polybutylene tereph-thalate/polyethylene terephthalate blends”. Jurnal Teknologi.82(8):15-21; 2020.
[25] Abeykoon, C. “Single Screw Extrusion Control: A Comprehensive Review and Directions for Improvements, the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences”, The University of Manchester, United Kingdom. The University of Manchester Research. 10.1016:pp8-10. (2016).
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Nigerian Journal of Technology

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
The contents of the articles are the sole opinion of the author(s) and not of NIJOTECH.
NIJOTECH allows open access for distribution of the published articles in any media so long as whole (not part) of articles are distributed.
A copyright and statement of originality documents will need to be filled out clearly and signed prior to publication of an accepted article. The Copyright form can be downloaded from http://nijotech.com/downloads/COPYRIGHT%20FORM.pdf while the Statement of Originality is in http://nijotech.com/downloads/Statement%20of%20Originality.pdf
For articles that were developed from funded research, a clear acknowledgement of such support should be mentioned in the article with relevant references. Authors are expected to provide complete information on the sponsorship and intellectual property rights of the article together with all exceptions.
It is forbidden to publish the same research report in more than one journal.