Recycling of acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) copolymers from waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), through using an epoxy-based chain extender

The effect of adding an epoxy-based chain extender (CE) on the properties of recycled acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (rABS) copolymers has been studied. At the beginning of this work, we investigated the difference of properties between rABS and virgin ABS, and then a possible aging mechanism was proposed. Various characterization techniques including attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy, gel permeation chromatography (GPC), mechanical properties testing and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), rheological measurement, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were applied to study the modification of chemical structure, molecular weight, mechanical properties, dynamic mechanical properties, rheological properties and morphology, respectively. The results indicated that the molecular weight, notch impact strength and tensile strength, storage modulus and loss modulus, and complex viscosity of rABS were enhanced by the addition of CE. Furthermore, the complex viscosity plots also revealed that the chain-extended rABS (rABS-CE) had a branching structure which furnished a better utilization and processing properties to rABS for recycling.