The aim of this project is to enhance the efficiency of the mechanical recycling of polymeric materials with the focus on the polymers which are challenging to recycle.

The research will be executed in three stages: (1) establishing a link between molecular-, morphological, processing and material properties of the synthetic polymer blends; (2) application of the waste feedstock polymers for the production of light-weight composites with bio-based fillers and carbon fibers; (3) application of natural polymers for blend production.

The first stage involves the experimental and model-assisted study of the extrusion and injection molding of synthetic polymers, mainly polyolefins. After gathering the experimental observations of morphology development and tensile properties for various blends we aim at the construction of a semi-empirical composition-structure-properties correlation. In the second stage, we aim to apply those correlations for the optimization of traditional and additive manufacturing of composite materials. In the 3^rd stage, we would include reactive extrusion-based modification for the synthesis of natural and synthetic polymer blends.