Recycling of glass fiber reinforced thermo-plastic composites. Ionomer and low density polyethylene based composites

Ionomer and low density polyethylene (LDPE) based composites were prepared containing 40% w/w glass fibers in a random in-plane orientation. These composites were then dissolved, and consequently the polymer/fibers solution was separated by filtration to recover the reinforcing agent and the polymer matrix. Different amounts of hot solvent were employed for washing during filtration to vary the polymer content remaining on the fibers. The recycled fibers were used to prepare 'new' composites, i.e., they were incorporated in the same polymer matrix, but of virgin quality. This paper investigates the effect of such an interphase alteration on the tensile performance of these materials. A significant improvement of the tensile modulus was found, namely after one washing of the fibers for the ionomer based composites and two washings for the LDPE based ones. This behavior is discussed in terms of degree of fiber dispersion.