This study examines composite materials prepared from ground recycled tires (tire crumb) and post-consumer recycled high density polyethylene (HDPE). An initial set of composites was prepared from as-received tire crumb and HDPE recyclate containing 040% tire crumb in 10% increments, using injection moulding. The elastic modulus and tensile strength were found to decrease linearly with increasing tire crumb content. Addition of tire crumb to recycled HDPE caused produced an immediate reduction in the strain to failure with a progressively more modest decrease as the tire crumb content was increased. The impact toughness decreased more linearly with increasing tire crumb fraction. Cross sections of the composites showed that the tire crumb particles were in intimate contact with the matrix but post mortem examination of the fracture surface of the impact test specimens indicated that the level of bonding had been poor. A second set of composites was a prepared from 10% tire crumb. The tire crumb was first given an oxidative treatment in hot aqueous copper chloride at concentrations from 0-5 wt% Cu Ch at 50 or 100??C for 6 or 12 hours. The composites were injection moulded with an addition of 0.5 wt% dicumyl peroxide (DCP). These composites showed good bonding between the tire crumb and the recycled HDPE even at concentrations of 0% of the Cu 2+ oxidation catalyst. The addition of DCP was found to substantially reduce the modulus of neat HDPE and this reduction was reflected in the modulus of the composites. It was found that the DCP concentration could be reduced to 0.02% without adversely affecting the composites.

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