Characterization of Waste Printed Circuit Boards Nonmetals and its Reutilization as Reinforcing Filler in Unsaturated Polyester Resin

Waste printed circuit boards (WPCB) nonmetals were firstly recycled as reinforcing filler in a kind of novel room temperature cured unsaturated polyester (UPE) composites. The compositions and characteristics of WPCB nonmetals were detailly analyzed by SEM, FTIR, TGA and Py-GCMS, and the effects of the content of WPCB nonmetals on the mechanical performance and thermal behaviors of UPE composites were also systematically studied. Results suggested that UPE composites incorporated with WPCB nonmetals at appropriate content showed superior tensile strength, flexural strength and heat distortion temperature than UPE matrix. Based on the analysis of thermal degradation kinetic, the thermal stability of UPE composites were significantly enhanced by the incorporation of WPCB nonmetals. The highlight of this work lies in the fact that high-valued utilization of WPCB nonmetals is realized in room temperature cured UPE matrix, which may not only achieve favorable economic and social benefits, but also open up new opportunities for the preparation of high performance plastic composites.