Al, Fe and Cu waste metallic particles in conductive polystyrene composites

The potential reuse of different waste metallic particulates (aluminium, iron fillings and copper) from industrial operations in the development of conductive plastic composites was considered in this study. Polystyrene based resin was obtained from waste polystyrene by solvolysis and used for developing the composite. The density, voidage fraction, electrical conductivity and microstructure of the composites were evaluated. The conductivity and the density of composites increased with filler concentration with the aluminium based composites being the most conductive. The conductive ranges of composites with aluminium, iron fillings and copper were 7.6 x 10(-8)to 7.3 x 10(-7), 2.1 x 10(-7)to 6.0 x 10(-7)and 4.6 x 10(-8)to 2.5 x 10(-7)S/cm respectively which suggested that they can all be used as electrostatic dissipative materials. Microstructural analysis revealed that the particles were more homogeneously dispersed in the aluminium-polystyrene composite than the others. The conductive composite produced possess moderate electrical properties suitable for various industrial and electronic applications.

Automated summary

This study examined the potential reuse of waste metallic particulates (aluminium, iron fillings, and copper) in the development of conductive plastic composites. The composites with aluminium demonstrated the highest conductivity, making them suitable for electrostatic dissipative materials.