20.500.12556/DKUM-88095 Advance analysis of the obtained recycled materials from used disposable surgical masks The production of personal protective equipment (PPE) has increased dramatically in recent years, not only because of the pandemic, but also because of stricter legislation in the field of Employee Protection. The increasing use of PPE, including disposable surgical masks (DSMs), is putting additional pressure on waste collectors. For this reason, it is necessary to find high-quality solutions for this type of waste. Mechanical recycling is still the most common type of recycling, but the recyclates are often classified as low-grade materials. For this reason, a detailed analysis of the recyclates is necessary. These data will help us to improve the properties and find the right end application that will increase the value of the materials. This work represents an extended analysis of the recyclates obtained from DSMs, manufactured from different polymers. Using surface and morphology tests, we have gained insights into the distribution of different polymers in polymer blends and their effects on mechanical and surface properties. It was found that the addition of ear loop material to the PP melt makes the material tougher. In the polymer blends obtained, PP and PA 6 form the surface (affects surface properties), while PU and PET are distributed mainly inside the injection-molded samples. mechanical recycling disposable surgical mask morphology surface properties mechanical properties nonwoven materials PPE mehansko recikliranje zaščitne maske morfologija površinske lastnosti mehanske lastnosti netkani materiali true false true MDPI Angleški jezik Slovenski jezik https://www.mdpi.com/journal/polymers © 2024 by the authors Članek v reviji 2024-04-09 14:31:46 2024-04-09 14:31:46 2026-01-12 13:41:37 0000-00-00 00:00:00 2024 0 0 21 str. iss. 7, [article no.] 935 Vol. 16 March 2024 0000-00-00 Zaloznikova Objavljeno NiDoloceno 2024-02-29 2024-03-26 2024-03-29 677.017:544.72 191884291 10.3390/polym16070935 2073-4360 polymers-16-00935.pdf polymers-16-00935.pdf 1 C1C21EC997A945FB8AA89B4F9AADB023 bd8427bce5f88108e6d529fcf24e8a3a8aa7174402eafad887b3c33259ebc2cd 8ae6d0c1-f66d-11ee-9d31-00155d000105 https://dk.um.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=178135 https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/16/7/935 0 9fef5acb-f66d-11ee-9d31-00155d000105 https://dk.um.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=178136 Fakulteta za strojništvo Fakulteta za elektrotehniko, računalništvo in informatiko 0 0 0