TY - JOUR

T1 - Effect of extrusion and fused filament fabrication processing parameters of recycled poly(ethylene terephthalate) on the crystallinity and mechanical properties

AU - Van de Voorde, Babs

AU - Katalagarianakis, Amalia

AU - Huysman, Sofie

AU - Toncheva, Antoniya

AU - Raquez, Jean Marie

AU - Duretek, Ivica

AU - Holzer, Clemens

AU - Cardon, Ludwig

AU - Bernaerts, Katrien V.

AU - Van Hemelrijck, Danny

AU - Pyl, Lincy

AU - Van Vlierberghe, Sandra

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2021 Elsevier B.V.

PY - 2022/2

Y1 - 2022/2

N2 - The production of plastic has grown exponentially over the past few decades and with it the amount of plastic waste leaking in the environment, where it fragments into micro- and nanoplastics. This problematic situation stresses the need for increased plastic collection, recycling and reuse rates. Extrusion-based additive manufacturing (AM) and especially fused filament fabrication (FFF) offer an efficient and effective method to reuse and upcycle recycled plastic. This study focuses on poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), which has a broad application window and its recycling is therefore environmentally and economically favorable and sustainable. Therefore, this study involves the thermal and mechanical behavior of recycled PET after extrusion and 3D printing. The extrusion parameters are optimized by performing a complete physico-chemical and thermal analysis of the obtained filaments and they were compared with commercial virgin and recycled PET. Moreover, the influence of the applied processing conditions on the degree of crystallinity and mechanical properties is investigated. The filaments are then used for FFF, where various printing parameters are altered to obtain the optimum printing conditions (i.e. printing temperature, the build plate temperature, fan cooling and printing directions). The effect of the degree of crystallinity of semi-crystalline PET is investigated via altered printing parameters, showing superior mechanical properties for an increasing degree of crystallinity. To verify the portability of the obtained optimized print parameters, two different FFF printers are used. The use of recycled PET as feedstock for FFF supports the efforts for improving the sustainability of plastics by valorizing PET waste, and prolonging the lifecycle of PET.

AB - The production of plastic has grown exponentially over the past few decades and with it the amount of plastic waste leaking in the environment, where it fragments into micro- and nanoplastics. This problematic situation stresses the need for increased plastic collection, recycling and reuse rates. Extrusion-based additive manufacturing (AM) and especially fused filament fabrication (FFF) offer an efficient and effective method to reuse and upcycle recycled plastic. This study focuses on poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), which has a broad application window and its recycling is therefore environmentally and economically favorable and sustainable. Therefore, this study involves the thermal and mechanical behavior of recycled PET after extrusion and 3D printing. The extrusion parameters are optimized by performing a complete physico-chemical and thermal analysis of the obtained filaments and they were compared with commercial virgin and recycled PET. Moreover, the influence of the applied processing conditions on the degree of crystallinity and mechanical properties is investigated. The filaments are then used for FFF, where various printing parameters are altered to obtain the optimum printing conditions (i.e. printing temperature, the build plate temperature, fan cooling and printing directions). The effect of the degree of crystallinity of semi-crystalline PET is investigated via altered printing parameters, showing superior mechanical properties for an increasing degree of crystallinity. To verify the portability of the obtained optimized print parameters, two different FFF printers are used. The use of recycled PET as feedstock for FFF supports the efforts for improving the sustainability of plastics by valorizing PET waste, and prolonging the lifecycle of PET.

KW - Crystallinity degree

KW - Fused filament fabrication

KW - Mechanical properties

KW - Melt extrusion

KW - Recycled poly(ethylene terephthalate)

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85120859210&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.addma.2021.102518

DO - 10.1016/j.addma.2021.102518

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85120859210

VL - 50.2022

JO - Additive Manufacturing

JF - Additive Manufacturing

SN - 2214-8604

IS - February

M1 - 102518

ER -