Waste marble dust-filled sustainable polymer composite selection using a multi-criteria decision-making technique

This research works with the optimal design of marble dust-filled polymer composites using a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) technique. Polylactic acid (PLA) and recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET)-based composites containing 0, 5, 10, and 20 wt% of marble dust were developed and evaluated for various physicomechanical and wear properties. The results showed that the incorporation of marble dust improved the modulus and hardness of both PLA and rPET. Moreover, a marginal improvement in flexural strength was noted while the tensile and impact strength of the matrices were deteriorating due to marble dust addition. The outcomes of wear analysis demonstrated an improvement in wear resistance up until 10 wt% filler reinforcement, after which the incidence of dust particles peeling off from the matrix was observed, thereby reducing its efficiency. The best tensile modulus of 3.23 GPa, flexural modulus of 4.39 GPa, and hardness of 83.95 Shore D were obtained for 20 wt% marble dust-filled PLA composites. The lowest density of 1.24 g/cc and the highest tensile strength of 57.94 MPa were recorded for neat PLA, while the highest impact strength of 30.94 kJ/m² was recorded for neat rPET. The lowest wear of 0.01 g was obtained for the rPET containing 5 wt% marble dust content. The experimental results revealed that for the examined criteria, the order of composite preference is not the same. Therefore, the optimal composite was identified by adopting a preference selection index-based MCDM technique. The findings demonstrated that the 10 wt% marble dust-filled PLA composite appears to be the best solution with favorable physical, mechanical, and wear properties.