Characterization and properties of industrial polymer matrix composite sanitarywares

Abstract

Polymer matrix composites (PMCs) play an increasingly important role in everyday life from energy conservation to national security. Recently, PMCs have been found to be used for sanitaryware due to their low density, giving a sense of warmth, which allows application for broad aesthetic features, high impact resistance, the ease of shaping and the possibility to produce thin sections. It is an alternative to ceramic sanitaryware products. While thin section PMC products range in the forefront with lightness and aesthetic features, thick section PMC products are aroused interest because of the impact resistance and ease of production. Little attention is devoted to the characterization of PMC sanitarywares up to date. Therefore, in order to identify manufacturing processes and determination of the chemical and mineralogical composition, optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with SE, BSE and EDX detector, X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF) and thermogravimetric (TG/DTA) analysis of commercial PMC sanitarywares with two different structures (thick and thin sections) were carried out. Mechanical properties such as three-point flexural strength, flexural modulus and impact resistance were identified. As a result of these studies, matrix to filler ratio, filler shape, size and composition and manufacturing technique of PMC sanitarywares were determined. Such understanding is necessary in order to satisfy the market request and to improve the properties of the sanitarywares.