Mechanical, rheological, and morphological properties of talc reinforced polycarbonate/acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene composites after accelerated UV weathering, natural weathering, and reprocessing

In current study, the influence of reprocessing for aged talc reinforced polycarbonate/acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (PC/ABS) composites with a PC/ABS weight ratio of 70/30 and containing 15 and 20 wt% talc was determined on the mechanical properties (tensile, impact, flexural), melt flow index, and morphology. Virgin talc reinforced PC/ABS granules were injection molded into the tensile, flexural, and impact samples shapes to determine the mechanical, rheological, and morphological properties. Then, samples were subjected to artificial accelerated ageing in a QUV chamber for up to 336 h and natural outdoor weathering for up to 1 year between January 2018 and January 2019. After ageing, naturally and UV aged samples were ground and the ground samples were mixed with virgin talc reinforced PC/ABS at ratios of 25%, 50%, and 75% by weight. The mixed materials were remolded to produce test samples and then mechanical, rheological, and morphological properties were determined. Briefly, in this study, the mechanical, rheological, and morphological properties of virgin, aged in natural environment for 12 months, aged in UV chamber for 336 h and blends of virgin-aged talc reinforced PC/ABS composites were investigated. Since no study about natural and UV ageing of PC/ABS having different talc content was found, current research presents a significant contribution to determining behavior of these composites after ageing. It was concluded that the change in mechanical and rheological properties varied in accordance with the ageing environment and talc content. Generally, mechanical properties reduced with natural and UV ageing. But some retention in properties could be achieved with the incorporation of virgin polymer.