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Introduction

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

  • small particle size of glass powder poses a health hazard-- operate in fume hood if possible, wear safety glasses and respirator.

Equipment or Bill of Materials

  • 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
  • pliers
  • timer of some sort

Calibration & Tolerances

  • 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

  1. Ask Dr. Pearce for swipe access to DOW 901 (OSHE lab) if you don't already have access
  2. turn on fume hood MTU DOW 017 in DOW 901
  3. prepare sample compositions, starting with 100% polypropylene and increasing glass content in increments of 10% by weight, measured on a MyWeigh iM01 balance
  4. use spoon to scoop glass powder into cup, carefully measure out correct mass of glass powder into storage container on balance
  5. make sure to zero the balance with empty container before each measurement
  6. 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
  1. email Paul Fraley (pdfraley@mtu.edu)
  2. take heat treat safety training
  3. furnace used: Thermolyne Furnatrol type 53600 (furnace # in U207)
  4. put plastic into container
  5. heat furnace
  6. put container into furnace with thermocouple wires under container
  7. monitor temperature every 5-10 minutes
I also tried mixing on a hot plate, which worked a little better 
  1. get swipe access to M&M U108 if you don't have it already
  2. place hot plate under fume hood, plug into outlet.
  3. place glass container with cover on top onto hot plate, with thermocouple inside, touching bottom of glass container
  4. turn hot plate to 5 using the dial on the front
  5. measure out 10g glass powder and 90g PP for 10% glass composite
  6. when thermocouple reads 160C, start stopwatch, and add plastic to pan and swirl around until mostly level
  • use the pliers to grip the pan, as it will be hot and may burn hands through gloves
  1. monitor the plastic every 3 minutes to ensure it is heating/melting evenly
  2. when plastic is mostly melted, add glass, using pliers to grip the pan. swirl glass around so it distributes evenly

Shutdown

  1. turn off hot plate
  2. let mixed composite sit and cool for 10-15 minutes
  3. unplug hot plate and turn off fume hood

Gallery

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