Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) recycling is one of the most important environmental issues, assuring a cleaner environment and reducing the carbon footprint of technological products, taking into account the quantities used year by year. The recycling possibilities depend on the quality of the collected material and on the targeted product. Current research aims to increase recycling quantities by putting together recycled PET in an innovative way as a filler for the additive manufactured metallic lattice structure. Starting from the structures mentioned above, a new range of composite materials was created: IPC (interpenetrating phase composites), materials with a complex architecture in which a solid phase, the reinforcement, is uniquely combined with the other phase, heated to the temperature of melting. The lattice structure was modeled by the intersection of two rings using Solid Works, which generates the lattice structure, which was further produced by an additive manufacturing technique from 316L stainless steel. The compressive strength shows low values for recycled PET, of about 26 MPa, while the stainless-steel lattice structure has about 47 MPa. Recycled PET molding into the lattice structure increases its compressive strength at 53 MPa. The Young’s moduli are influenced by the recycled PET reinforcement by an increase from about 1400 MPa for the bare lattice structure to about 1750 MPa for the reinforced structure. This sustains the idea that recycled PET improves the composite elastic behavior due to its superior Young’s modulus of about 1570 MPa, acting synergically with the stainless-steel lattice structure. The morphology was investigated with SEM microscopy, revealing the binding ability of recycled PET to the 316L surface, assuring a coherent composite. The failure was also investigated using SEM microscopy, revealing that the microstructural unevenness may act as a local tensor, which promotes the interfacial failure within local de-laminations that weakens the composite, which finally breaks.

This study was concerned with the adhesion of resin cement to metal surfaces obtained by selective laser melting process (SLM), and how it could be improved the bond strength at the biocomposite-metal junction. The SLM substrates were manufactured out of pure titanium (Ti), Ti₆Al₇Nb, and CoCr alloys. The metallic surfaces were covered with 5 types of biocomposites: 2 commercially resin-modified glass-ionomer cements (GC Fuji Plus and KETAC CEM) and 3 types of in-house developed materials. These biocomposites were mechanical characterized under compression and bending trials. The biocomposites-metal adhesion was settled both on as built metallic surfaces and after they were sandblasted with alumina. All the sandblasted SLM surfaces presented higher adhesion strength in comparison with the untreated specimens. The CoCr specimens show the highest bonding value. Additionally, the morphological aspects of joining interfaces were investigated using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The mechanical properties and metal adhesion of these biocomposites were influenced by the liquid powder ratio. It is essential to apply a surface treatment on SLM substrate to achieve a stronger bond. Also, the chemical composition of biocomposite is a major factor which may improve the adhesion of it on different metallic substrates.

Although polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is a champion of recycling, intense research is being done to find new solutions for using recycled plastic. This study aims to characterize the mechanical andstructural properties (SEM- scanning electron microscopy) of products made from recycled metal swarf or mesh wire with recycled plastic (PET) in comparison with virgin plastic. Samples manufactured from virgin and recycled PET are made by pressing and high temperature. The loss of mechanical properties ofproducts made from recycled plastic is a major drawback that influences their use. SEM images confirm that the dispersion and distribution of the PET phase is not very uniform. By addition of virgin plastic in various compositions with recycled plastic, processing parameters and mechanical properties can be optimized.

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) based nanocomposites containing nano-silica (Aerosil (Degusa)) and titanium oxide (TiO2 (Merk)) were prepared by melt compounding. Influence of nano-silica and titanium oxide on properties of the resulting nanocomposites was investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The possible interaction between nano-silica and titanium oxide particles with PET functional groups at bulk and surface was elucidated by transmission of FTIR-ATR spectroscopy. AFM studies of the resulting nanocomposites showed an increased surface roughness compared to pure PET. SEM images illustrated that nano-silica particles have tendency to migrate to the surface of the PET matrix much more than titanium oxide powder.