Thesis (M.Sc.)--Chulalongkorn University, 2004

The objective of this research is to recycle nonwoven fabric waste from medical gown-manufacturing process by using as a filler in high-density polyethylene (HDPE). Before nonwoven fabric waste was mixed with HDPE, this fabric waste was modified with 5, 10, and 15% by weight of maleic anhydride using modification time of 2, 3 and 4 hours. The chemical structure of modified fabric waste was comfirmed by FT-IR spectroscopy while scanning electron microscopy was used to investigate its surface morphology. The samples were prepared by compression molding using the amount of fabric waste at 5, 10, 15, and 20% w/w, respectively. After mechanical tests were employed, it was found that HDPE filled with 10% of fabric waste treated by 10% of maleic anhydride for 2 hours exhibited overall mechanical properties including tensile properties, flexural properties and impact strength better than HDPE filled with unmodified fabric waste or those modified with other conditions