Reactive Processing of Recycled Polycarbonate/Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene

Abstract

Cellular phone housings were ground to make original particulates using a knife mill. Foams and adhesives with a lighter density than water were removed from ground mixtures using a sink−float process in water; ground metals, button rubbers, and wires were separated from desired materials by using a sink float process in salt. All housing materials, consisting of seven thermoplastics included in cellular phone housings, showed better tensile properties than pure housing materials made of polycarbonate/acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, but they only had about half of the impact strength. In contrast, the low impact strength for all housing materials was improved by adding 25 wt % polyethylene elastomer and/or 2.4 wt % ground epoxy circuit boards for batch mixing. Impact strengths, tensile strengths, and the energy absorption ability of all housing materials were improved by adding 5.4 wt % glycidyl methacrylate for twin screw extrusion.