Influence of Repetitive Recycling of 3D Printing Filament on Mechanical Properties of PLA and PLA/Spent Coffee Grounds Composite
摘要
Due to its biodegradability, biocompatibility, and mechanical properties, PLA is a leading biomaterial for numerous applications, especially for fused deposition modeling and fused filament fabrication. Nonetheless, the absence of a comprehensive recycling strategy could emerge as a significant source of plastic pollution in the future. Indeed, the polymer undergoes deterioration during melt recycling, resulting in a decrease in some mechanical properties that can compromise the recyclability. To improve the properties of recycled PLA, the utilization of organic fillers coming from renewable materials can be considered as a sustainable solution. The objective of this work is then to evaluate the effect of recycling (reprocessing) on a virgin raw material as well as on biocomposite based on spent coffee grounds. The different types of filaments are extruded and re-extruded and characterized under tensile tests. The results show that the mechanical properties of recycled PLA are lower than those of virgin PLA. The tensile strength of recycled PLA decreases by 14% as compared to virgin PLA with the increase in the number of repetitive recycling. On the other hand, Young’s modulus values exhibit fluctuations. The decreasing value of the mechanical properties can be associated with the thermal degradation of the PLA molecular chain during the extrusion process. Regarding the SCG filler, no major enhancement has been observed which is attributed to the poor adhesion between the matrix and the filler. Further investigations on the reprocessing process must be made to optimize the filament extrusion parameters to reduce the mechanical properties degradation.