Thermomechanical recycling of polyamide 6 from fishing nets waste

ABSTRACT The objective of this work is to analyze the possibility of thermomechanical recycling of polyamide 6 (PA6) from fishing nets waste. The effect of thermomechanical processing on PA yarns obtained from fishing nets waste was investigated by means of physicochemical, rheological, and thermal characterization. Infrared analysis indicated that the chemical composition of samples before and after thermomechanical recycling process was maintained, also confirmed by the thermal transitions detected by calorimetry and the presence of main peaks related to γ and α crystal phases of polyamides at X‐ray diffraction spectra. As rheological and mechanical behavior showed by all recycled samples after processing is similar to those for virgin one, PA obtained from fishing nets waste seems to be valid for recycling, as they can be processed for different potential industrial applications without any remarkable loss of main properties. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2020 , 137 , 48442.