Characterisation of Aged ABS Layers Formed during Long-Wavelength UV Exposure
Résumé
Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) is a polymer extensively used in the field of electronic, in household equipment, or in vehicles. More than a third of the overall quantity of this polymer can be found in this type of waste (1).
ABS is a rubber-toughened polymer. It is composed of a majority styrene-acrylonitrile copolymer phase (SAN) with spherical nodule-shaped elastomer inclusions of polybutadiene (PB). These nodules enhance the fracture toughness of the polymer allowing it to be more resilient. Yet, ABS is very sensitive to photo-oxidation risking rendering the product unusable through typical mechanical recycling (2,3). Literature relates the loss of mechanical properties with the aging of polybutadiene nodules (2,4,5).
In the present work, aged ABS layers formed during UV-exposure and their impact on the overall mechanical behavior are characterized.