Recycled Gypsum Particles Incorporation in Recycled Expanded Polystyrene by Biodegradable Solvent-Preparation and Characterization

The recycling of expanded polystyrene (EPS) by the use of ethyl acetate, a biodegradable solvent is an alternative by the regular recycling process. Due to the fragility of the polystyrene (PS), 2 wt% of glycerol was added in the recycled expanded polystyrene (REPS) to increase the mobility of the polymer chains reducing the brittleness of this material. As a dispersed phase was used recycled gypsum from construction waste. 5, 10, and 15 wt% of recycled gypsum were used to obtain composites by melt extrusion. Virgin PS, RPS, RPS/Glycerol, and RPS/Glycerol/Gypsum composites were characterized by Thermogravimetric Analysis (TG), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FEG-SEM), and flammability test. The results showed that the addition of glycerin plasticized RPS and Gypsum particles improved the thermal stability. In the flammability test, the samples containing gypsum do not extinguish the flames of the material, this phenomenon was not observed in the other compositions.