Mechanical and physical characterizations of compatibilizer-free recycled plastics blend composites modified with carbon nanotube and clay nanofiller

Excessive amount of disposable and reusable plastic wastes has increasingly gained a great environmental concern. This present article aims to investigate the individual effect of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and clay loadings at 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 4.0, and 6.0 phr on the tensile, impact, density, and water absorption properties of polymer blend made from recycled high-density polyethylene and recycled polyethylene terephthalate. Both nanocomposites were melt-blended using a twin screw extruder before compression molding. For MWCNT nanocomposite, 4 phr showed the optimum tensile strength (14.5 MPa), Young's modulus (587.4 MPa), and strain at break (4.2%) as compared to other loadings. For clay nanocomposite system, the optimum tensile properties (13.9 MPa tensile strength, 525.7 MPa Young's modulus, and 4.7% strain) were achieved at 1 phr. The impact strength of the nanocomposites was reduced with both nanofillers' content. With the increment of MWCNT and clay loadings, the percentages of water uptake increased but the values were still considered low (<0.26% upon 35 days immersion) capacity. These research findings with the effect of nanofiller types and loadings were statistically significant as proven in ANOVA analysis. This study formalizes a chemical-free environmental strategy to produce nanocomposite as a plastic-replacement product.