Polymer and glass have very different particle sizes (glass powder <44 micron, polymer ~5mm diameter) these particles will not mix evenly unless the polymer melts.
Safety[edit | edit source]
- small particle size of glass powder poses a health hazard-- operate in fume hood if possible, wear safety glasses and N95 dust mask.
Equipment or Bill of Materials[edit | edit source]
- MG200 recycled soda-lime glass powder, by Vitro Minerals
- crushed polypropylene stored in a closed, airtight plastic bag
- respirator
- ANSI Z87.1+ certified safety glasses with side shield
- fume hood
- 2 cups for more careful massing of samples
- several containers with closable lids (30-100 ml volume)
- spoon for adding small amounts of glass powder
- aluminum baking pan for quick heating
- 2 sheets of aluminum foil (12x12 in approx)
- heat-resistant gloves
- plyers
- timer of some sort
- N95 dust mask
Caibration & Tolerances[edit | edit source]
- zero balance w/ empty container before each measurement
- tolerance of MyWeigh iM01 balance is 1000+/- 0.01 grams
- sample mass should fall within a tolerance of +/- 0.1g, preferrably within 0.01 or 0.02 for more precision
Operation & Procedure[edit | edit source]
- Ask Dr. Pearce for swipe access to DOW 901 (OSHE lab) if you don't already have access
- Turn on fume hood MTU DOW 017 in DOW 901
- prepare sample compositions, starting with 100% polypropylene and increasing glass content in increments of 10% by weight, measured on a MyWeigh iM01 balance
- Use spoon to scoop glass powder into cup, carefully measure out correct mass of glass powder into storage container on balance
- Make sure to zero the balance with empty container before each measurement
- Store measured glass for each composition in a correctly labeled plastic container with closed lid.
If containers of proper size are in short supply, use multiple smaller containers and label correctly. I also tried mixing on a hot plate, which worked a little better.
- get swipe access to M&M U108 if you don't have it already
- measure out appropriate amounts of glass powder and PP for each % glass. Measure these PP and glass into separate containers. Wear dust mask while massing glass powder.
- place hot plate under fume hood in U108, plug into outlet.
- turn on fume hood and light switch. fume hood should be no more than 15 inches open when not mixing anything.
- place metal container with aluminum foil cover on top onto hot plate, with thermocouple inside, touching bottom of metal container
- turn hot plate to 5 using the dial on the front
- when thermocouple reads 160C (this should take 10-15 minutes from room temp), start stopwatch, and add plastic to pan and swirl around until mostly level
Use the plyers to grip the pan, as it will be hot and may burn hands through gloves
- monitor the plastic every 3 minutes to ensure it is heating/melting evenly
- When plastic is mostly melted, add glass, using plyers to grip the pan. swirl glass around so it distributes evenly
Shutdown[edit | edit source]
- turn off hot plate
- let mixed composite sit and cool for 10-15 minutes
- unplug hot plate and turn off fume hood
Gallery[edit | edit source]
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Fume hood
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Pan grip
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Hot plate setup
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Thermocouple position
