Use of titanate to improve interfacial interaction and mechanical properties of polyethylene/artificial marble wastes composites

The resource utilization of artificial marble wastes (AMWs) is urgently needed for environmental protection as a large amount of artificial marble are used as construction material. Nevertheless, it still remains challenging to achieve high performance of AMWs-filled polymer composites due to their poor interfacial interaction with hydrophobic polyolefins. Here, the unsaturated resin residue on the surface of AMWs is employed to construct strong interfacial interaction with high-density polyethylene (HDPE) matrix to prepare mechanically robust polymeric composites by use of titanate coupling agent. The mechanical properties (with a tensile strength of 28.6 MPa and a flexural strength of 27.7 MPa) of the resulting composites are comparable to or even better than those of raw calcium carbonate-filled HDPE composites. This work will not only promote the recycling and reutilization of AMWs, but also provide a feasible way for value-added application of other polymeric wastes, such as waste printed circuit board, waste artificial turf, and so on.