The Mechanical and Thermal Behavior of Electrostatic Powder Coating Waste Reinforced Epoxy Composites

The present study investigates the mechanical and thermal behavior of polyurethane electrostatic powder coating waste reinforced epoxy composites. Different percentages of electrostatic powder coating waste (3, 6, and 9 wt. %) reinforced epoxy composites were manufactured. The mixture of polyurethane powder coating waste and epoxy was mixed with a magnetic stirrer to ensure that the polyurethane powder coating waste was dispersed well in the epoxy, and then the mixture was placed under vacuum and air bubbles were removed. Tensile and three-point tests were performed to determine the changes in the mechanical properties of the materials, and thermogravimetric analysis was conducted to determine the thermal properties. In addition, images were taken with scanning electron microscopy for morphological features. The study revealed that the three-point flexural strength was increased by up to 8% and 15%, respectively, in the samples with 3 wt% and 6 wt% powder coating waste additives. The material's tensile strength decreased by up to 27% with powder coating waste reinforcement. However, the opposite trend was observed in the modulus of elasticity. Additionally, no significant difference was observed in the thermal properties of the materials. Also, from scanning electron microscopy analysis, it was observed that the inclusion of powder coating waste changed the damage mechanism of the material.