PREPARATION OF CASTOR-BASED POLYURETHANE COMPOSITES FILLED WITH WASTE CARBON TYRES (WCT) AS GROUTING MATERIAL

This research focused on the fabrication of castor-based polyurethane composite (CPUC) filled with waste carbon tyres (WCT) with particle size of 200 mu m that acts as reinforcing filler. WCT was first sieved using a sieving machine to obtain uniform particle size. WCT loading was varied at 0wt%, 2wt%, 4wt% and 6wt%. The effect of WCT loading in CPUC was evaluated based on their foam reaction time, apparent density, rheology, compression strength, morphology and thermal properties. The foam reaction time of CPUC achieved was in the range of industrial PU grout's properties. The rheology index and compression strength of CPUC decreased with increasing WCT loading. CPUC with 2wt% of WCT loading achieved the optimum compression strength where it increased from 2.58 MPa to 3.39 MPa with the improvement of 31.40% compared to neat PU. FESEM micrograph showed that CPUC consists of closed foam cell indicating the rigidity of the CPUC. The addition of 2wt% of WCT resulted in achieving the optimum thermal stability of CPUC where CPUC2 had the highest char residue content. The high residue content indicated that CPUC2 had the lowest decomposition of elements as WCT acted as heat barrier in CPUC matrix thus increasing the thermal stability of CPUC2.