Naslov
Mechanical Recycling of PET

Autori
Kratofil, Ljerka ; Hrnjak-Murgić, Zlata ; Jelenčić, Jasenka

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Sažeci sa skupova, sažetak, znanstveni

Izvornik
Proceedings of the 18th Bratislava International Conference on Modified Polymers "ModPol 2003" / Omastova, Maria - Stará Lesná : Polymer Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, 2003, 45-45

Skup
18th Bratislava International Conference on Modified Polymers, ModPol 2003

Mjesto i datum
Stará Lesná, Slovačka, 05.10.2003. - 08.10.2003

Vrsta sudjelovanja
Predavanje

Vrsta recenzije
Međunarodna recenzija

Ključne riječi
polyethylene terephthalate; polymer blends; mechanical recycling

Sažetak
Generally, mechanical recycling is the most used technology to handle post-consumer and post-industrial polymer waste. However, the mechanical recycling process leads to some irreversible changes in properties and structure of materials due to the high temperatures, high pressure and shear force that are applied. In order to be acceptable for further use recycled material must not lose mechanical properties, durability and aesthetics. To avoid the damaging processes the recycling process parameters should be carefully engineered. Poly(ethylene terephthalate), PET, is one of the polymer materials which occupies large fraction in polymer waste stream and should be recycled. An efficient way to successfully formulate recycled materials with some new properties is to mix them with other polymers. In this study polymer blends of PET and HDPE (high density polyethylene) were prepared by blending at 260 °C in Brabender plasticorder. The studied PET and HDPE materials were collected from a real waste stream of bottles. It is well known fact that PET and HDPE are incompatible polymers and influence of different fractions of HDPE polymer in PET/HDPE blend was considered. For this purpose samples of PET/HDPE blends were prepared in various compositions: 90/10, 94/6, 97/3, 99/1, 99.3/0.7, 99.5/0.5, 99.7/0.3, 99.9/0.1, respectively. Samples of PET/HDPE blends containing 5 wt.-% of compatibilizer 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate + hexamethylene diisocyanate were also prepared and analyzed. Prepared samples were analyzed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), mechanical properties and melt flow rate (MFR) were also determined. Prepared blends were analyzed by infrared spectroscopy (IR) to detect appearance of degradation products. Results of the studied samples indicate that thermal processes used during recycling cause deterioration of physical properties. It can be also seen that blends prepared with lower HDPE content show improved properties that is result of higher miscibility of PET and HDPE. Improvement of blend properties is achieved by adding a compatibilizer which minimizes interfacial tension and improves interfacial adhesion between the polymers. The different degradation processes occurring during PET recycling affect the final properties of blends and may change their compatibility.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Kemijsko inženjerstvo

POVEZANOST RADA