The use of waste materials as fillers in polymer composites-synthesis and thermal properties

This paper presents the synthesis and characterization of new polymeric materials in form of composites. As a fillers, waste materials of inorganic origin (ash and silica gel), were used. In the synthesis of composites, two derivatives of bisphenol A (glycerolate diacrylate, and epoxy resin, Epidian® 5), were applied. The compositions were prepared with an increasing amount of fillers 0-40% w/w in both tested systems. Composites were analyzed using the thermogravimetric analysis (TG/DTG), which showed the influence of different fillers on their thermal properties. Moreover, the proper course of the polymerization reaction was confirmed by spectroscopic analysis (ATR/FT-IR). It has been shown that new resistant materials can be obtained, using cheap and waste materials, by simple synthesis which does not require monitoring of the reaction course or expensive polymerization initiators.