Water absorption study and characterization of polymer composites developed from discarded nylon carpet

Abstract

Abstract The scientific objective of this work is to reuse the polymer materials generated from carpet waste. The nylon obtained from the discarded carpet was used as reinforcement material into the epoxy matrix phase. A modified approach of Vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding (VARTM) was used to infuse the mixture of epoxy and hardener into the nylon carpet polymer composites. This investigates the water absorption behavior of carpet waste composite. It will justify the application of proposed composites for lightweight structural applications in a moisture environment. The nylon fiber-based-epoxy composite was dipped in water as per ASTM standard for a different duration, namely, 24, 48, 72, 144 hours. The findings demonstrate that it can effectively withstand in moisture environment, and a maximum 4.5% weight of samples increased among all the samples for a different duration. Also, the developed composite showed a lower water diffusion co-efficient than the nail head structure and linden wood. Also, the carpet waste composite samples were investigated for thermal degradation and chemical behavior using X-Ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, respectively. The finding shows that the proposed composite could be used for lightweight components such as dashboard panels, sound absorbers, panel sheets, wall tiles, etc.