The selected mechanical properties of epoxy mortar containing PET waste

Modern concrete-like polymer composites rate now among the most important materials in building industry. However, their general use is rather limited because their production is more expensive than that of ordinary concretes, first of all because of the high cost of resins applied. For these reason as well as on account of the idea of sustainable development, it is very important to conduct research on how to use polymer waste (mainly plastic waste) for the modification of building materials. The article presents the results of strength and hardness tests on epoxy mortars produced by partially substituting their resin binder with glycolisates obtained from poly( ethylene terephthalate) waste (PET). Structural study on the glycolisates was conducted by means of IR and NMR spectroscopy. Besides, a differential scanning electron microscope was used to photograph the fractures of the samples of the composites. The global extrema of the parameters investigated were determined based on the results of the STATISTICA program aided calculations. This allowed identifying the area of input mixture content changes for which the specimens of the composite showed the best properties for all the three determined parameters. Additionally, it was proved that there are cause-and-effect relationships between the chemical structure of the glycols used for the glycolysis and the strength properties of the composites obtained. The investigation conducted confirmed that there is a possibility of using waste materials in the production of mortar. Since they have always been an environmental problem, their utilization will help to apply the principles of sustainable development in the processes of obtaining new materials. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.