On the Recycled Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene Composite Filaments with Tuneable Thermo-Mechanical Properties

In the past two decades, several studies have been reported on the 3D printing of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) based functional prototypes (of amorphous nature) using the fused filament fabrication (FFF) process. It has been reported that the reinforcements (commercial metallic powders) result in the tuned crystalline behaviour of the ABS matrix, leading to compromised 3D printing capabilities. This study highlights the fabrication of secondary (2°) recycled ABS filament with reinforcement of burnt incense stick powder waste (ISPW) for acceptable thermo-mechanical properties and 3D printing capabilities. The reinforcement of ISPW (0.75% by wt.) in ABS was selected based on the rheological and mechanical properties. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) results show an improvement in crystallinity (from 28.5 to 34.9%) with a minor change in mechanical strength (from 29.8 MPa to 29.47 MPa) in the ABS-0.75%ISPW composite. The differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analysis outlined that glass transition temperature (Tg) was improved (from 94.97 °C to 105.27 °C) for the prepared composite. The results were also validated through Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis.