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
- 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 pliers 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 pliers to grip the pan. swirl glass around so it distributes evenly
Shutdown
- turn off hot plate
- let mixed composite sit and cool for 10-15 minutes
- unplug hot plate and turn off fume hood