Glitter&Cement
Cooperate with BEST®
This is a new material research and development project cooperated with BEST®Company. The purpose is to recycle the waste produced by BEST® Company in the production of glitter powder and to study new materials by using the characteristics of waste materials. According to the color and flash characteristics of the different glitter powder, this project combines with vaporwave art and realizing the Commercialization of Vaporwave art.
Photograph - Kai Wu
Design - Kai Wu
Raw Material - BEST®
Golden onion powder (glitter), also known as flash powder, flash powder, because the size of large also known as gold onion sequins from high brightness of different thickness of PET, PVC, OPP metal aluminum film material electroplating, coating by precision cutting. The particle size of onion powder can be produced from 0.004mm to 3.0mm. Environmental protection belongs to the material of PET. Its shape is quadrilateral, hexagonal, rectangular, prismatic and so on. The golden onion pink series is divided into laser silver, laser gold, laser color (including red, blue, green, purple, red and black), silver, gold, color (red, blue, green, purple, red and black) magic series. Each color system has a surface protective layer, which is bright and has a certain resistance to mild corrosive chemicals of climate and temperature.
01 - production
After knowing all the production processes of BEST and their current waste recycling mechanism, I became interested in their waste. I wonder if I can design a new material that they can't recycle.
So firstly, the processing process of glitter powder is as follows.
- raw materials
- raw materials
PET
Al
Aluminum
PVC
- produce processing
- produce processing
raw material
vaccum aluminum plating
dividing
surface tratment
painting
cutting
02 -
the waste
Secondly, I began to investigate the amount of glitter waste generated in these processes. And think about different kinds of glitter can be recycled, its chemical properties, physical properties can be used in what areas.
- watse amount / position
03 -
experiment
Next according to these characteristics, I carried out a variety of experiments on this material.
According to my investigation, glitter waste mainly occurs in the stage of coating, slicing and powder sieving. They produce about 1500kg of waste per year.
- How can it BE ？
Then I collect, classify and brainstorm these wastes according to their chemical and physical properties. I drew mind maps to help me think.
THE
METHOD
The glitter can be mixed with paint, glue, ink, paint, plastic, pulp, glass pulp and other raw materials. The mixture can be cured by natural air drying, high temperature oven drying, cooking and drying.
Usage of glitter:
1. Christmas process: glue (water-borne, oily) - > powder spraying - > natural air drying (drying)
2, candle process: wax and powder mixing (transparent) - > cooling forming
3, ceramic process: varnish (gold oil, glue) - > spraying onion powder - > drying - > spraying varnish - > drying forming.
4. Iron products technology: varnish and powder mixing - > spraying - > natural air drying (baking)
The decomposition reaction of PET is easy to occur at high temperature. The decomposition products are mainly acetaldehyde and carbon dioxide, which do not produce toxic gases. When the temperature of PET is high (about 300-400 C), it will decompose completely. Therefore, in the production of bottle blanks, great attention should be paid to adjusting the temperature, in order to avoid the concentration of acetaldehyde (AA) too high, affecting the taste of beverages.
PVC is fire-resistant 50-70 metres, acid-alkali-resistant, non-flammable, density 1.4, brittle, and contains chlorine groups in PVC molecule. When the temperature reaches 120-C, pure PVC begins to HCl reaction, which will lead to thermal degradation of PVC.
Aluminum temperature resistance 660 degrees, acid and alkali resistance, density 2.7, environmental protection, brittleness
04 -
Cement experiment
Based on the fast drying and decorative properties of cement, I found black and white cement to carry out my glitter experiment.
- making
Here is the basic method of making cement.
add cement
add sand
add water
mixing
- experiment - 01 fail
In this experiment, I made a preliminary attempt to pour glitter cement, but because the proportion of cement is not well controlled, the formed object is very fragile, and the decorative effect of glitter on cement is not obvious.
①
②
③
④
The above is a case of my failure in the experiment.
① It is caused by too little cement and other impurities during pouring.
② It is caused by too little cement, too much sand and too much water when pouring, the cement is loose as a whole, and the glitter effect is poor.
③ It is a more successful case, but glitter can not attach to the surface very well, resulting in dropping of particles.
④ The effect of glitter is not obvious when there is too much sand in the pouring process.
- experiment - 02 fail
In this experiment, I balanced the proportion of cement and increased the proportion of glitter, so that glitter contacted cement in a large area. Although the effect of finished glitter is good, it still has poor cohesion, and cement can not travel, which causes great waste.
①
②
③
④
The above is a case of my failure in the experiment.
① too many glitters lead to failure of moulding
② The uneven addition of glitter results in only one corner of cement fused with glitter.
③ Glitter joins unevenly, but forms a textured section.
④ The addition of glitter is not uniform, and it also forms a textured section.
- experiment - 03 fail
In this experiment, I balanced the proportion of cement and increased the proportion of glitter, so that glitter contacted cement in a large area. Although the effect of finished glitter is good, it still has poor cohesion, and cement can not travel, which causes great waste.
- experiment - 04 successd
Considering that water can significantly improve the adhesion of onion powder, and it will not pose a threat to the onion powder itself, I added glitter to the wall of the die, and added water to increase the adhesion of glitter on the cement, and at the same time, after pouring, fully vibration. Finally, the experiment is completed.
②
①
③
④
① film and cement mixing
② large size glittercement
③ Al film mixing
④ PET glitter mixing
- process
Here is the basic method of making glittercement.
add glitter first
mix glitter
add cement
mix again
- experiment - 06 successd
